Wednesday, March 26, 2003
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Wednesday, March 26, 2003 |
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New PE facility to squeeze parking at McIntosh By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Though the students will be out of school, there likely will be a lot of activity at McIntosh High School this summer. There are plans to renovate the school kitchen, start building a new physical education facility and create more parking spaces, since the new PE facility will be built in the current student parking lot. The Peachtree City Planning Commission approved the conceptual site plan for the PE facility and kitchen addition 3-1 but excluded the area of the faculty and staff parking area. The dissenting vote came from Planning Commissioner Bob Buckley, though the other members expressed their concern as well. The Board of Education has already budgeted money for the kitchen renovation and is waiting for the go-ahead for funding for the PE facility, which they expect to come soon. If the funds get budgeted, they expect to start construction in June. The problem for Buckley, though, was that renovations to the parking lot were not included in the conceptual site plan. Mike Satterfield, facilities director for the school board, stated that he would come before the planning commission with those plans soon. "This should be a whole package," said Buckley. "I don't want to approve this site plan and then four weeks down the line have to approve the parking because construction will start and something will need to be done about parking." Satterfield estimated that McIntosh will lose 25 percent of its parking for the PE facility and another 25 percent for the contractors as they build. To create the 130-140 parking spaces they will lose, they plan on removing some of the larger islands in the faculty and staff parking lots and reworking the parking situation. Satterfield also stated that the front entrance driveway will be moved to align with the subdivision across the street. Planning commissioner Ray Green approved the conceptual site plan but expressed his displeasure with the landscaping and appearance at the front of the school, stating that it desperately needs fixing and looks "lousy." Satterfield agreed to bring the plan of the parking lot and landscaping before the commission. "McIntosh was built on 32 acres," said Satterfield. "We typically require 50 acres to build on. Unfortunately, there is no other place to get parking at the school." Satterfield estimated that there are between 1,500 and 1,600 students at McIntosh currently but expects that number to grow back to 1,800 students at some time in the near future. The kitchen renovation will include the building of an addition and the band and chorus rooms will be moved. The existing PE facility will become an auditorium for the school. The Planning Commission is scheduled to meet again April 14 but as of Monday's meeting there was nothing on the agenda.
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