The Board of Education plans a complete renovation of Iola Roberts Elementary School and a new front addition to the high school. Both projects are expected to cost more than $4 million.
Gary Mozingo, facilities supervisor for the School System, said they are just waiting on the money to begin the two construction projects.
Mozingo said Wednesday the bonds, which will pay for the two construction projects, are expected to go out to market within a couple of weeks. He said the bonds will be on the market for another two weeks, and it will take another couple of weeks to execute the formal agreement for the School System to secure the bond money.
“We’re about six weeks out from getting the stimulus money,” Mozingo said. “We’re on schedule to start construction in October or early November.”
Construction work includes the total renovation of Iola Roberts Elementary School, about a $3.6 million project, and a new front to the high school, which will cost an additional $789,000.
“We will be in good shape if we start by October or early November,” Mozingo said. “It would have been nice to have started in July, but it’s still doable.”
School officials thought the low, 1.8 interest rate loan would become available sooner.
He said work on the high school addition will start immediately, once funding is in place and a construction contract is secured.
Mozingo said at Iola Roberts Elementary School, workers will begin the construction of the gym, five classrooms and a choir room.
“When we finish the new gym, we would move the students into the new gym and start the renovation of the old gym,” he said. “They could start working on the new library in March.”
The old gym will house the new library and administrative offices.
Mozingo said workers will turn their attention to retrofitting the old Iola Roberts classrooms next summer, and remodel the old administrative offices at the high school.
He said the construction projects should take nine to 10 months to complete, once work begins.
“By the first day of school (next year), it should be 99 percent complete,” Mozingo said.
He said the School System will accept bids for the two construction projects together in an effort to get a lower overall price.
Officials say once all the work is completed at Iola Roberts, the facility will look like a new school. Workers will basically “gut” the old school.
Both Iola Roberts and Pell City High will have new entrances.
The high school entrance will match the Pell City Center, which is adjacent to the high school.
The new front entrance at the high school will extend out to the first row of the front parking area. The new addition planned for the high school is about 3,300 square feet.
Contact David Atchison at datchison@dailyhome.com
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