Battle Creek Central High School opened in fall 1909, replacing a school that had been built in 1871. The architect was Wilbur Thoburn Mills.[6] The building has received several additions, including a major renovation and expansion project completed in 2010. The architect for this project was TMP Associates.[7][8][9]
In June 1933, the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium opened, along with a junior high school of the same name within the building. Built across McCamly Street from the Central High School, it was meant to be used for touring shows and concerts and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. The building was a gift from cereal mogul Will Keith Kellogg. Musicians and bands that have played there include Johnny Cash, ZZ Top,[10] Dizzy Gillespie, and Jerry Lee Lewis.[11] The junior high school within the building has closed, and J.K. Kellogg Preparatory High School, an alternative high school, is housed in the building.[12]
The district acquired the Sanitarium Union Building, a basketball arena with a bowling alley and swimming pool, in 1958 for $1. It had been built in 1928 by the Battle Creek Sanitarium and was used to rehabilitate wounded veterans of World War II. The district renovated the building and renamed it Central Field House. It was the district's primary venue for basketball games until the expansion of the high school in 2010.[13][14]
In 1990, the Springfield School District merged with the Battle Creek School District. Its high school was used to establish the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, an application-based STEM school used by fifteen area school districts.[15][16] Since 2013, it has been housed in the renovated former Kellogg Cereal City Museum.[17]
