I once had a terrifying nightmare. One of the most unnerving surprises imaginable. McDonald’s changed its Big Mac recipe. For no reason. They changed their menu just to change it…

It’s okay though, just a dream. Until I walked into campus the first week of school and saw an empty space where the weight room used to be. A similar nightmare, come true.

The sense of uneasiness and confusion that comes with seeing an entire building missing adds unnecessary perplexity to an already overwhelming first week of school. Coming back from a relaxing summer and being hit with the confusion of a missing building only piles on more unwanted stress as students return to classes and homework. In fact, construction crews were still at work a few weeks into the school year.

Granted, the new amphitheater will provide more room for students to spend their time between classes, but at what cost? Tearing down the weight room displaced the wrestling arena. And that’s not all. The entrance to the front office has changed, the layout inside the office has changed and even the connection from the library to the office has been sacrificed for the construction of an elevator. All this change is hard to keep up with, and has got me questioning the necessity of it. There is a reason McDonald’s will never change its Big Mac recipe. There is a reason Alex Trebek has hosted “That Show Your Parents Watch” since its inception in 1984.

And there is a reason for which the weight room was taken down and the elevator was added. Safety concerns and a lack of funds to build new building gave school administration no choice but to take down the building. No choice but to leave a hole in a once full campus. No choice but to leave returning students bewildered at the absence of a prominent building.

The worst part of the construction site that was Carlsbad High School: the ugly chain-link fence that blocked off the construction area. The work should at least have been completed before school started.  It is true that construction is never punctual, but what better way to make freshmen fear high school even more than to create a work zone in their new home away from home.

The reason for which the weight room was taken down, however, clearly left our administration with no choice. The state of the building presented striking safety concerns. This reality is unfortunate and points to another glaring frustration: our treatment of school property. It is of high necessity to keep our buildings clean and preserved. Are we so nonchalant with the way we treat our school that we are forced to tear it down as a result?

The money used to tear down the weight room could have and should have been put to better use. Why not put money into preventing the science building from flooding when it rains? Why not donate extra money to organizations on campus that need it? Anything else. But unfortunately, the scary realities of safety concerns led to using the little amount of money available for something that should not have been given one head turn.

The construction in the former area of the weight room is a wake-up call to all students. It is of immense importance to keep our buildings clean and well taken care of to ensure that the precious amount of money we have is put to the best of uses.

Sure, the Weight Room was no “Carlsbad Gap,” but the removal of it should not have been necessary.