School board eyes new band hall for Loyd Star
Published 6:00 am Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Lincoln County School District is going forward with severalconstruction plans at three of its four campuses, with even morework scheduled for the future.
To better accommodate the student-musicians at Loyd StarAttendance Center, the school board is looking to construct a metalbuilding to serve as the school’s new band hall.
“They have no band hall,” said Superintendent Terry Bristerduring Monday’s meeting. “They’re living out of that cubby hole(the old library), and we need to accommodate them. The band isdoing well … They need some facilities.”
Before the band students at Loyd Star can be accommodated, thecampus must undergo a slight redesign.
Two temporary buildings stand on the spot where the the schoolboard plans to erect the new building, and they must be moved. Theboard plans to relocate the buildings, declare them as surplusproperty and open the bidding process to sell them.
Once the temporary buildings are sold, the board will beginshopping for the new metal building, which will be either 2,400- or3,200-square-feet.
Once the building is completed, the board plans to “seal off”the interior by installing acoustic padding. The new band hall willbe used exclusively for musical purposes, as the band will retainuse of the old library for office and storage space.
Elsewhere in the district, a new building is also currentlybeing erected at Enterprise Attendance Center. The board recentlyawarded a $1.9 million contract to Paul Jackson and Son Inc., ofBrookhaven, for the construction of a building that will house 12classrooms.
Enterprise is currently in its first year as a 2A school, butdistrict Business Manager Cheryl Shelby said the increase inenrollment was not the cause for the new classrooms.
“They’re operating with five temporary buildings,” she said.”The new classrooms are something that was already needed.”
The contract, which calls for the building to be completed in ayear’s time, was awarded in October. The 12 new classrooms shouldbe completed in time for the second semester of the 2008-2009school year.
No new buildings are planned for Bogue Chitto Attendance Center,but it too will be upgraded. Brister said a preconstruction meetingis planned at the school on Nov. 28 as it prepares to oversee therefurbishment of the school’s parking lot.
Shelby said the slag parking lot has been in service for a longtime without ever receiving an asphalt covering. The lot will soonbe renewed, as the bid to resurface and re-stripe it has alreadybeen awarded.
The board has also drawn up a remodeling and re-roofing plan forBogue Chitto, although a contract for the project has not yet beenawarded.