BOE receives facilities assessment
The Hartselle Board of Education received a facilities assessment including more than $5 million of recommended improvements.
The majority of the improvements at this time were at Hartselle Junior High School, where more than $3 million in renovation projects were recommended.
The largest single project included a total renovation of the Riddle Auditorium, which was built during the New Deal era under the WPA, estimated at $1.5 million. Sewell McKee of McKee and Associations in Montgomery said just about everything will need to be redone.
“The only thing that we can use is the shell of the building,” McKee said. “The shell of the building is structurally sound, but there’s nothing inside the building that we can use. It will have to be completed redone.”
Other projects considered including upgrading the lighting inside the school, replacing single-pane windows with double-pane windows, tinting windows in the cafeteria and lunchroom, a renovation of the office, creating a destination front entrance that is handicap accessible and closing up windows in the hallways for fire safety.
More than $1 million was recommended to be spent at Crestline Elementary for projects including replacing flooring, replacing windows and an upgrade of the school’s auditorium with sound and lighting improvements.
McKee also recommended several upgrades at Hartselle Intermediate School including upgrades to the front entrance, expanding the cafeteria and replacing the cafeteria flooring with tile instead of carpet. He also recommended that all bathrooms be upgraded to be ADA compliant, but he added that it’s not as great of a need since some of the school’s restrooms are handicap accessible. No cost was given for these upgrades.
McKee also said they are also looking into possible roof leaks at Barkley Bridge Elementary. However, they have not yet diagnosed the problem and determined a solution.
The last part of the facilities report focused on $1 million in improvements to J.P. Cain Stadium. The most expensive project was to add visitors locker rooms and additional restrooms on the south end of the stadium.
Other projects included paving additional parking spaces on the south end of the stadium and adding ticket booths on the northwest and southwest corners of the stadium, along with landscaping upgrades.
School Superintendent Dr. Vic Wilson said he plans to use the report to update the school system’s capital improvement plan and strategic plan for the future.