News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Property purchased for a new school in Cookeville can easily house a 114,00 square foot K-4 facility.
Building separate K-4 and grade 5-8 schools would be more expensive and not as easy. Upland Design Group’s Kim Chamberlin said that’s because the property’s topography poses some challenges.
“The worry is we open up the potential for sinkholes to come. That was what geo-services was very adamant about,” Chamberlin said. “If you start cutting much, they get very concerned about that. There’s loser soils as you get down further in areas that are susceptible to sinkholes and we had that in some of these areas.”
Putnam County School Board members viewed the official survey of the 45-acre property during a work session Thursday. The survey identified at least two sinkholes on the property and steep slopes throughout some areas.
Chamberlin said there’s a possibility that the property could house a larger K-8 school with one cafeteria, library, and administrative wing. The board has asked Chamberlin to report back with a design of that concept.
Director of School Jerry Boyd said he’s hoping school board members can make a design decision before the end of the year.
“We got some feedback tonight about space and maybe some design considerations,” Boyd said. “He’s going to go back and put those down and let us see that vision. That may help the board make a definite decision within the next board meeting or maybe by December at the latest.”
The board has a joint meeting scheduled with the Putnam County Commission on November 12. The board hopes to see Chamberlin’s design before that meeting.
