News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The 20,000-foot expansion project at White County’s BonDeCroft Elementary moving toward a July 1 completion date with the school empty over the summer.
Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the vast majority of the exterior is complete and the interior is 85 percent done. He said cabinetry and ceilings are going in now, and furniture is on deck. Dronebarger said teachers should be moving into the new wing by July 4.
“There’s different challenges, especially if you’re working in an active school, that they’ve had to work around all throughout the year,” Dronebarger said. “There were days that we couldn’t have P.E. class because they were in the gym. There were days that we just had to stay away from the cranes that were out there doing the work, so having folks not in the building certainly allows them the freedom to work as they need to.”
Dronebarger said construction during the school year never caused major problems, but workers now have the space to freely push forward to the finish line. He said the project has created a more modern look to parts of the existing building that were build in the 1950s.
“We want to always be looking toward the future,” Dronebarger said. “And we’ve done vast improvements at all of our schools in the district to make sure that we are preparing for growth as we expect to grow into the future.”
He said the project will add a new office, a new front entrance, and an elevator. He said he has been excited about the project because it also creates a sense of fairness for the BonDeCroft community.
“We’ve invested in other schools and updated their facilities,” Dronebarger said. “This particular building was the last building we had that had a separate gym that was not connected to the school building.”
He said the project will enhance the safety of school and athletic procedures with the connected gymnasium and leave behind a more cohesive, aesthetically pleasing structure for the BonDeCroft community.
