News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Overton County Board of Education will proceed with quotes from architects for roof replacements, a kitchen remodel and facilities for a JROTC program.
School Board Members held a roundtable discussion Tuesday night discussing maintenance and capital projects in every school across the system. The projects will need to be addressed in the future. School Board Member Wayne Taylor said to him, a kitchen upgrade at Livingston Academy is a project that needs to happen.
“Just a little clarity here on the kitchen at LA,” Taylor said. “It’s says to remodel and possibly extend into the home ec room. The idea is we definitely have to make it bigger. It is one of the most important things on here for LA.”
School Board Chair Mike Hayes said he would update the system-wide project master list to submit to architects for a price estimate. Hayes said from there, the board can start exploring bonds to possibly pay for some of the projects.
Hayes said among the projects will be a possible auxiliary gym and classrooms for the ROTC program. Hayes said the board can either build a new auxiliary gym or repurpose the existing gym and build a new main gym.
“We can go meet the architect and tell them do a new gym where the tennis courts are, ,” Hayes said. “You can make our current gym an auxiliary gym and on the sides where the visitors sit, you can almost put two rooms in there for JROTC. On the two ends, use it for storage and still keep the seats to the right. If you do auxiliary play in there you can sit in there. Build a new gym out back and possible have some room for classrooms out there, or just redo the gym and do classrooms and just do a smaller auxiliary gym. We can look at it both ways.”
School Board Member William Abston said he would like to see a new main gym built.
“I think that with the high school if we are going to build something like that I think we should just make it the primary gym and make the current gym the auxiliary,” Abston said.
The project lists also included some 48 maintenance projects ranging from window replacements to new door knobs. Hayes said those will be subcontracted out or completed in-house. Hayes said with so much work, the board should consider hiring more maintenance future in the near future.
