For Peter Jacob, a Grade 10 F.H. Collins Secondary School student, lunch hours are about getting a quick bite to eat, then heading to the gym with his friends to play volleyball or whatever sport might be offered at the time.

On Thursday evening, he and others on the school's Grade 9/10 boys' volleyball team turned up after a game for an information session on the plans for the new F.H. Collins proposed to open on the same site as the current school in 2015.

The plans will see the beloved gymnasium among the first parts of the current school demolished early next year. That will leave students like Jacob without a gymnasium until the new school opens.

Tenders for the project have gone out, with a deadline of Jan. 15.

As a Grade 10 student, that means this will be Jacob's last year to spend his noon hours enjoying sports in the school's gym with his friends.

While he may not ever attend the new F.H. Collins, he said in an interview he thinks it's "cool” a new school will be built, but doesn't think the gym should be the first thing torn down.

Decked out in his F.H. Collins Warriors uniform, he said he would rather see the gym be one of the last pieces of the 49-year-old school to be demolished over the next two years plus.

As he pointed out, it's not just him and his friends using the gym at lunch.

Estimating there are probably upwards of 100 students in there during the lunch hour, he said the facility is divided in two.

One half is set up for a more organized sport that school teams may be playing that particular time of year. Right now, he said, it's set up at noon hour for volleyball. The other half of the gym allows students to enjoy more of a free-for-all. They can shoot a few hoops or do whatever other indoor sports they might fancy with their friends.

With an hour for lunch, after he eats, Jacob said there are a good 45 minutes of free he and many others at the school like to spend in the gym.

While Jacob spoke happily of his noon hours practising his volleyball skills, the parents and community members in the room saw the gym as much more than a noon-hour hangout for the students.

Arguing the school needs some sort of gym on site, many in the room spoke of the facility as being the "heart” of the school.

Along with being a safe place for many teenagers to spend their noon hours every day, it's the training ground for the Warriors sports teams and the site of so many important events like graduation, government officials, including Education Minister Scott Kent, were told by numerous parents and others Thursday night.

The session had originally been set up as an open-house style meeting where the public could drop in and speak with officials at five information stations in the school's cafeteria.

It quickly changed to a question and answer session after Kent welcomed the approximately 50 people in attendance and deputy minister Valerie Royle pointed out each of the five stations. The subjects they addressed were safety and construction; the geothermal system; programming; design; and the gym.

Following the statements by officials, one of those at the meeting argued there should be some format where residents can publicly ask questions of officials, to which Royle invited questions from the floor.

That brought on a slew of arguments in favour of having some sort of gym on-site.

Stacey Lewis was one of a number of vocal supporters who wanted to see a temporary gym created on the site and perhaps used by the larger community after the new school opens. Others suggested the department could sell the large tent that would be used.

It's not going to happen, Royle continually told the crowd. She pointed to the estimated $1.3 million it would cost. That estimate, she acknowledged later, came from inquiring with only one company.

The department has budgeted $180,000 into the $56-million school construction budget to deal with the changes to the phys ed programs.

While a set option has yet to be decided on, she argued even if it goes over the budget, it isn't likely to get close to the $1.3-million mark.

At the information station on the gym, superintendent Mike Woods stood in front of a display showing the various options for ensuring gym and phys ed space for the students.

The Canada Games Centre has allocated time and space specifically for the students in the flexihall and the fieldhouse each morning through the week, along with afternoon options during both school and after-school hours. Other parts of the recreation complex could also be used, Woods pointed out.

The class schedule wouldn't be changed for the rest of this year. In future years, phys ed classes could be double-booked to give the students more time after the estimated nine-minute bus ride to the facility.

"I think it's a waste of time,” Jacob said. That's not only the nine-minute bus ride each way, but also the time it takes to get ready for phys ed or practice.

Royle noted the department is exploring the possibility of having a bus on standby once the gym is down to get students to places like the Games Centre, the Mount McIntyre area and Mount Sima.

It's also proposed that students would use more nearby facilities – outdoor rinks, trails and other schools where there's availability, and others.

The school also has a portable weight room that will be moved. It's suggested the cafeteria and photo shop can be used for some activities normally happening in the gym.

Graduation ceremonies, Royle told the crowd, have already been booked for the Yukon Convention Centre.

In an interview, Woods noted that once it was decided to keep the school at its current location, there was little option but to demolish the gym early into the work.

Many people wanted the high school to remain in Riverdale, he noted. To keep the fields outside the school open during construction, there are only certain areas where the geothermal system can go. Weighing all of those interests meant losing the gym, Woods said.

He pointed out that in many cases Outside where a school is being torn down and a new one being built on-site, the school is completely out of commission during construction.

Students are disbursed to other area schools.

In this case, students will continue their education at F.H. Collins, albeit without a gym.

"I realize it comes with a little bit of pain,” Woods said, something officials also recognized when they addressed the crowd.

As a mother of two, Royle said, she can fully appreciate the role the gym plays in students' lives.

"We know the gym is often the heart of the school, so we need to plan for that,” she said.

While she continually ruled out a temporary gym, she emphasized officials are doing all they can to ensure students get their phys ed classes, extra curricular sports and so on, as well as their academic class time.

Despite the financial arguments against building a makeshift gym, a number of parents made comments like "at the end of the day, kids aren't a balance sheet,” and advised against looking at the students that way.

"The dollars and cents, it really doesn't matter,” said one parent, who noted the differences between a student spending his or her lunch hour safely hanging out in the gym and going off in a different direction are "immeasurable”.

He went on to state how important it is that elected officials understand that aspect of it, adding he thinks that can't be excluded from consideration.

"So do we,” Royle concurred.

Sandra Henderson, a retired French teacher and current school council chair, noted her anger, first with the meeting that no mic system had been set up for those looking to ask questions and no seating had been brought out.

While she eventually found a seat for herself, Henderson noted it was difficult to hear what people were saying.

Henderson also supported the idea of having a temporary gym, noting too it could be a long-term facility for many community groups.

She also pointed to suggestions that came forward initially that the new school incorporate the experiential science and the Music, Arts, Drama program with a small theatre also built at the new school.

"This is something we need in our community,” she said. It seems an Outside architect simply came in and sold Yukon officials on a design that may not be suited for the local needs, she added.

While the gym and sporting programs will certainly be altered through construction, F.H. Collins principal Darren Hays also has his work cut out for him on the entire programming end for the new school.

The new school is being built in a way that can accommodate different class environments.

Classrooms will be able to be smaller for those looking for the more traditional format or expanded to be larger and even spill out into hallways, in this case called learning commons (with their enhanced features) for larger projects like the roller coaster-type projects some science classes at the school do now.

The new school will be geared toward 21st-century learning, Hays said. Some pilots are already underway at F.H. Collins to prepare for the change.

"We have to prepare our students for their future, not our past,” Hays said. He added he recognizes the concerns some have in moving from a system that's been in place for the last century.

As he gets set for the changes that will come with the new school, he's been making note of what students and parents can expect with the new system.