The Elmore County Board of Education’s five year capital plan outlines multiple projects that are already in the works and some that could begin soon.
Every year, the district is required to update its capital plan that lists construction projects the school system would like to tackle within the next five years. Elmore County Superintendent Richard Dennis said the capital plan serves as a guide that can be updated or changed from year to year.
The BOE approved this year’s plan at its meeting on Sept. 15. The first three items on the list – the Redland Middle School, Stanhope Elmore band room and Elmore County Technical Center expansion projects – began in August.
The capital plan also includes a new school in the Holtville area, which Dennis referred to as one of the fastest growing areas in the school district. He said all of the schools in Holtville are at capacity, which could lead to the construction of a new high school.
“There’s no sensible way to add on to the high school because there have been so many freestanding additional buildings constructed over the years,” Dennis said. “There’s no good way to do it without tearing down existing facilities.”
Dennis said building a new high school would allow the district to restructure all of the schools, spread the students out better and still have room for additional growth.
Meanwhile, the construction of Redland Middle has already started. The 111,052-square-foot school is being built on a 50-acre site that was donated by county resident and local developer Rodney Griffith. The school, which was designed with future expansions in mind, will cost a total of $26.6 million and will include 32 classrooms, three storm shelters, a gym with lockers, a weight room, a food court-like cafeteria, a media center and several multipurpose classrooms.
Plans for the school also include spaces for future softball, baseball and football fields.
Site grading, which is under way at a cost of $1.4 million by Rodney Griffith Excavating LLC, is expected to wrap up in December. It will take an estimated two years to build the school. The school is set to open at the beginning of the 2022 school year.
The new $1.65 million band and choral room at Stanhope Elmore High School will be completed in about eight months, just in time for the start of the 2021-2022 school year. The facility will be 9,311 square feet.
The scope of the project includes a 2,700-foot band room, a 1,295-foot choral room, piano and music classes, plenty of storage space and a laundry room. The new band room will be 1,000 square feet larger than the current facility, which is 50 years old and about the size of one and a half classrooms.
An additional $7 million building is also being built at the Elmore County Technical Center. The additional facility will be located adjacent to the current one on Kelly Fitzpatrick Drive.
Completion is expected by the end of summer 2021. The new building will house the construction, plumbing and pipefitting, HVAC, welding, electrical, aviation, medical sciences and public safety and law programs. Once the new building is built, the district will begin renovating the current one. The existing building will be home to the hospitality and tourism, automotive, computer technology, pre-engineering and drafting and design programs.
The third phase of ECTC renovations will take place some time down the road. The final phase of renovation will include turning a current asphalt parking lot into a courtyard with sidewalks, benches, tables and green space for students to enjoy and constructing a new school access road around the perimeter of the campus.
Dennis said the fourth item, the addition of a new band and choral room at Wetumpka High School, is set to happen soon.
“We expect to continue to see growth in Redland and Wetumpka,” Dennis said. “We’re trying to create more space at the high school to accommodate that growth.”
Other items on the list include the second phase of the Elmore County Technical Center expansion, the construction of new tennis courts in Millbrook and Wetumpka and adding a maintenance/records facility at the central office.
The Millbrook tennis courts are the BOE’s contribution to the Fields at 17 Springs, a multi-sport complex project that kicked off this summer, Dennis said.
According to the capital plan, the district will spend up to $400,000 to construct the fields. The Fields at 17 Springs project involves the BOE, Grandview Family YMCA, city of Millbrook, Elmore County Commission and Elmore County Economic and Development Authority.
Dennis said he is in talks with the city of Wetumpka to create a similar partnership to bring new tennis courts to the city.
Future capital plan projects include the addition of eight to 10 classrooms at Airport Road Intermediate School, renovating a portion of Stanhope Elmore that hasn’t been updated in 40-50 years, installing energy efficient air conditioning and renovating the front entrance of the central office.
The BOE hopes to make additional improvements and additions to the athletic facilities at Wetumpka and Stanhope Elmore as well as constructing a second competitive gym at Millbrook Middle.
Some of these projects could happen sooner rather than later thanks to the $50 million bond secured by the board of education to fund these projects, Dennis said. He also pointed out that the capital plan is fluid and can change as needs change.
“Every year a committee meets to review the list and we make adjustments to it every year,” he said.
