Front view of the new Priceville High School. | Randy Garrison

Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

The Alabama Building Commission declared Tuesday that construction of the new Priceville High School is substantially complete, safe and free to be occupied.

Morgan County Schools Superintendent Bill Hopkins Jr. said he received the good news via email and phone text.

“I’ve been busy at meetings most of the day and haven’t yet talked personally with those involved in the inspection process,” Hopkins stated. “There is a punch list of findings that will be corrected before we take ownership of the property. Plus, final inspection of the field house will be done at a later date.

Hopkins pointed out that five life safety issues addressed by the structural engineering firm of Blackburn, Daniels & O’Barr in October 2015 were found to be non-issues.

In a three-page report, Lynn D. Blackburn Jr. wrote: “This has been a very limited review and in no way can we say all of the structural parts of the building are adequate and meet all code requirements. We can state that all of the items we looked at do meet code requirements and we found no evidence to indicate this structure is not safe.”

He said administrators, teachers, support personnel and students will be allowed to move into the new school before the end of the school year at a date yet to be determined.