Hill schools, until March 17, 1914 when a vote of 5 to 1 made the decision to construct a new building in the same location. The current building was opened in the fall of 1915, is made of reinforced concrete, and contains 27 classrooms and an auditorium with a capacity of 830. It was designed by architect W. H. Weeks, of San Francisco. World Wars and Memorial A total of 11 former students were killed in World War I, between 1917 and 1918. In 1919, the graduating class carved the names of those alumni into the marble facing of the wall of the entry hall, as a memorial to those lost in the war. Above the names is carved the inscription, "Freedom Cometh Not Free." George A. Bond wrote a letter in the 1919 year book dedicating it, saying "Their names are carved...not only on the marble of our school walls, but on the ineffaceable marble of our memories and our hearts." In the early 1920s, eleven black walnut trees were planted around the athletic field, one for each of the alumni who died during the war. In 2008, there were tensions between neighborhood residents of Myrtle Street and the Santa Cruz City School District over plans to cut down four of the trees as part of a track renovation project for the Santa Cruz High School Memorial Track and Field. The residents argued that the trees were a valuable part of the school's history and the plans should be altered to accommodate them, whereas the District argued that it would cost too much money and the trees, which showed indications of interior rot, would have to be cut down anyway. As of 2009, two of the trees had been removed, with plans for the removal of the remaining two of the original four disputed trees, much to the displeasure of several members of Veterans of Foreign Wars, who saw it as breaking a "covenant" made when the trees were planted. After WWII, a second memorial was constructed along the same wall as the first, listing the names of the students who had fallen in service. Each year, these students' biographies and photos, as well as those of women who served but were unharmed in the war, are placed next to the names upon the wall. Newspaper Much of the historical information known about Santa Cruz High School comes from