Preparations underway for construction of new school

The Blacksburg High faculty parking lot was closed Friday while soil samples were taken on the future site of a $5 million ninth grade addition.

The 2-story, 30,000 square foot addition will be built on the site of the present faculty parking lot beside the school cafeteria. The addition will include 12 regular classrooms, two physical science labs, two special education classrooms, two resource rooms and an addition to the band room.

Parking has been at a premium this school year with some students parking by a large tree near the Blacksburg High gym parking lot and other students using a parking area near the Blacksburg Middle School gym.

The school board spent $55,000 last April to purchase .89 acres of land from an unidentified land owner, $8,000 more than the property owner’s asking price when the district first inquired about the land several years ago.

This property is located across the street from Blacksburg High and could be used as an additional parking area once the school expansion begins.

The district should be ready to advertise for bids on the Blacksburg High ninth grade addition by mid-April, according to a proposed schedule by Southern Management, the district’s construction management firm. Construction would begin in June of 2006. The district could move into the Blacksburg High ninth grade addition by May of 2007.

“We are looking forward to the construction. This ninth grade addition is something we desperately need,” Blacksburg High Principal Jim Touchberry said. “We are out of space at our school.”

Blacksburg High is close to capacity with 566 students enrolled this school. The school was built in the 1970s to accommodate 600 students.

The addition will allow Blacksburg High School to accommodate another 360 students. It will be the first building project funded with a $33 million bond issue approved the school board last fall.

The district is currently working with financial adviser Ross, Sinclaire and Associates in Columbia to secure insurance for the bond issue, finance director Jim Bridges said. The district will use a portion of its 8 percent debt limit to fund the bond issue.

Bond insurance would allow the district to save money on interest payments on the 25year bond issue, according to Bridges. The district expects to issue the bonds sometime this spring.

The bond issue will be used to pay for the Blacksburg High ninth grade addition, a new field house and stadium upgrade at Blacksburg High, a new Limestone Learning Center, a 6-classroom addition at Goucher Elementary, a Gaffney High ninth grade addition and a new Gaffney High football stadium.