SMHS to fix visitors' football bleachers, install gym floor

By Lynn Hotaling

Middleton estimated it will cost in the neighborhood of $45,000 to replace existing pressure-treated boards with aluminum boards and foot boards. It was determined that money to complete the project can be taken from the school system's fund balance and replaced from next year's budget. School board Chairman Martha Queen said the board would seek reimbursement from county commissioners in the next fiscal year's budget.

The steel support structure for the bleachers is sound, Middleton said. He anticipates that work can be completed before the first football game in August.

Another athletic facility at the high school will also be repaired this spring when the gym floor is replaced and bleachers are upgraded as part of a $5 million renovation under way at the 40-year-old school.

Plans are to tear up the existing maple floor as soon as the basketball season is complete. Architect John Cort of Asheville said his projection is to receive bids by Feb. 27 and sign a contract within the next two weeks.

The school system has two options with regard to the bleachers in the gym, Cort said. The existing bleachers can be repaired or new, motorized bleachers can be purchased and installed. If new bleachers are used, Cort said, some seating will be lost due to newer codes that require additional aisle space.

A final decision about the bleachers was not made, although Queen spoke in favor of new bleachers with easier access for older fans.

SMHS Principal Kenny Nicholson received board approval to sell pieces of the old gym floor as a fund-raiser. He also informed board members about a benefit basketball game, "The Last Shot," scheduled for Saturday, March 3. It will be an old-timers game with teams from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he said, and proceeds will be split between gym renovations and the schools' academically/intellectually gifted program.

Turning to other school system construction projects, construction coordinator Clarence Hubbell told board members that the expected move-in date for the new Scotts Creek school to be April 1. He estimated the new facility is 95 percent complete and said interior finish work is progressing rapidly.

Recent cold weather has resulted in increased fuel oil consumption at the work site, Hubbell said. Though the cost of heating oil is the contractor's responsibility, Hubbell said he would like to purchase the oil on state contract and let the contractor reimburse the school system, if it is legal to do so. No action was taken on the matter.

The workforce addition at SMHS is behind schedule due to weather conditions, Hubbell said, but crews have been working Saturdays to make up lost time. The contract stipulates the building is to be completed by July.

At Blue Ridge, progress continues on a classroom addition that will house the K-12 school's high school students. Weather permitting, the contractor will complete all concrete slabs Friday, Hubbell said.

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