Wednesday, July 2, 2003
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Wednesday, July 2, 2003 |
School construction going wellBy J. FRANK
LYNCH
Construction on the new Crabapple Lane Elementary in north Peachtree City is so far ahead of schedule, students might move into the facility within weeks of the start of the new school year in August, and not in January, as originally projected. The project is ahead of schedule despite the record wet spring because most of the exterior work is complete. Contractors have been focusing on the interior details and finishings in recent weeks, according to the montly update from the school district's facilities department. Because of the good fortune, students assigned to Crabapple this fall probably won't have to wait until January to make the move from temporary quarters at nearby Kedron Elementary. School Board Member Janet Smola last week praised efforts to get the building open early, and suggested it might be ready by the first of September. There has been no confirmation from the county office that the opening date will change, however. Crabapple Lane is the third and final elementary school to be built using money from the 2000 bond referendum. Work on the district's other major capital project, Whitewater High on Ga. Highway 85 South at Goza Road, is also ahead of projections, but not as significantly as Crabapple. In a report to the school construction oversight committee two weeks ago, it was reported that masonary walls and door frames were going up in the classroom wings of the school, sprinkler systems were being installed and the gym floor was ready to be poured. Outside, curbing and drainage work for the driveways and parking areas are in place, and the lay of the campus including placement of the athletic fields between the school and the Kiwanis Fairgrounds can clearly be made out. The oval concrete perimeter of the running track is already fenced off, circling a muddy football field where irrigation equipment has been installed. Concessions and restroom facilities are going up underneath what will eventually become the home and visitor grandstands, and workers are assembling the football stadium lights at ground level so a crane can come in and lift them into place. At the north end of the football field is the baseball complex, complete with fencing already, and to the south is the softball stadium. Concrete dugouts are going up at both fields. In spite of all the progress, Whitewater won't open before fall 2004, even though the freshman class will be housed this coming school term at the LaFayette Educational Center. Work on retrofitting parts of the LEC, which is the old Fayette County High campus, is continuing. Fresh paint and carpet, new lockers and some new furnishings are being installed to accommodate the 372 ninth graders expected to enroll this fall, most all of them drawn from Fayette County and Starr's Mill attendance zones. When they do move into their permanent campus, Whitewater students will be the first among the county's five high schools to have a completely finished complex from the start with no "second phases" or partially finished fine arts or athletic facilities. It will include a 1,000-seat auditorium and lighted football stadium. Among other projects going on around the school district: ·East Fayette and Fayetteville Intermediate schools are getting new kitchens.If these kitchens are not finished by the time school starts, meals would be prepared at LaFayette Educational Center and transported. ·Construction documents for both McIntosh and Sandy Creek additions are in final review. Parking lot work has already started. The county was waiting to hear final word on funding from the state before bidding the projects. ·Many more shools are getting new carpet, interior painting, lights, and other maintenance projects.
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