Friday, August 8, 2003
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Friday, August 8, 2003 |
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School construction timeline Fall 1981: McIntosh High School opens on Walt Banks Road in Peachtree City to relieve crowding at Fayette County High. An auditorium was not part of the school's original plan. The school's gym, considered unique for the times, has permanent concrete bleachers on one side, facing a curtained stage across the basketball court. While intended for assemblies and fine arts performances, the stage was never widely used for such due to the poor acoutics and seating arrangement. Fall 1991: Sandy Creek High School opens on Jenkins Road in Tyrone, the county's third high school. Considered a "model" school that would be "wired for the future," it nonetheless opened without vocational-technical classrooms or auditorium, both victims of budget cuts. The vo-tech wing was later added to give the school "comphrehensive" status, but within just a few years Sandy Creek's computer technology is considered obsolete. Though a push for an auditorium began early on, the school's music and theater groups still perform on a makeshift stage set up in the cafeteria. Fall, 1997: The South Complex on Ga. Highway 74 South at Redwine Road includes Starr's Mill High School and Rising Starr Middle School in one huge building, connected at the center by a 1,000-seat auditorium. In August 1998 the school board OK's naming the theater the Willie Duke Auditorium in memory of a longtime Georgia-Pacific employee after the company donates $60,000 in matching funds to a parent's group to install theater seating. November, 2000: Voters approve a $65 million bond referendum that includes construction of Whitewater High School and three elementary schools. July, 2002: The Board of Education awards a construction contract for Whitewater High School. The cost estimates for completing the building come in under expectations, allowing for plans to build an auditorium on the campus to be included in the overall project. August, 2002: Based on a study of systemwide facilities and "school equity," the Board of Education instructs staff to come up with a timeline and plans to expand the core facility at McIntosh High School to accommodate a projected student body of 1,800. This will include an expansion of the cafeteria, kitchen renovation, an expanded band room, an expanded physical education facility, and an expanded fine arts facility that would be housed in the retrofitted space that is now the gym. At the same time, staff was directed to come up with a timeline and plans to build a fine arts performance facility/auditorium at Sandy Creek High School. March, 2003: Saying time was of the essence, facilities staff gives the Board of Education a timeline for getting the construction projects at both McIntosh and Sandy Creek started as soon as school ends in May. Crucial to both projects is renovation of the school parking lots. Funding for the construction itself hinges on whether or not the state comes through with designated capital outlay funds. The Board agrees to take a gamble and proceed with planning for the projects, though the funding remains uncertain. June, 2003: School system work crews begin tearing up the McIntosh High parking lots to make room for a new gymnasium Tuesday, Aug. 5: The School Board votes to award construction contracts for both the Sandy Creek auditorium and the McIntosh High gymnasium, including the complete renovation of the McIntosh campus and conversion of the old gym into a fine arts theater, even though it is $1.56 million short in funds to complete the work. Construction is expected to start in early fall, though completion of the McIntosh renovations isn't expected for 30 months. J. Frank Lynch
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