After saving money on the renovation of the Lewis Wendell Page Administration Building the Scottsboro Board of Education decided in a 4-0 vote Monday night to make repairs to the 550-seat auditorium in the facility.
Jerry Coleman, Chairman; Robbie Copenhaver, Vice-Chairman; Donald Hodges; and Dr. Judy McCrary voted in favor of the proposal. Board member Howard Hill was out of town on business and not in attendance at the board’s regular monthly meeting.
The board has approximately $170,000 available to renovate the auditorium and make it usable for public functions. It’s initial plan is to repair plaster, seating and electrical service in the facility. They will also replace the HVAC system, carpet, ceiling tile and paint as needed.
As part of the renovation of the first floor of the building the auditorium has had a sprinkler system installed. Emergency lighting was also put in place during the earlier work.
The stage-platform area will be repaired and refurbished for use in hosting speakers, possibly plays and other performances. Additional lighting, included recessed and direct type to illuminate the stage area will be installed.
“We’re glad we are going to be able to go ahead and do a part of this project now,” Dr. Judy Berry, Superintendent of Education said. “It will benefit the community.”
The project will not be a complete renovation. The spruce-up will allow the auditorium to be used for a variety of school, civic and community functions.
“I remember when we talked about the renovation of this building we promised the community to pursue phase two,” Coleman said. “This is what we promised.”
Berry and Kenneth “Dickey” Holder said Tuesday that it would take several weeks for Rob Van Peursem of SKT Architects to complete drawings for the boards approval. After that the system would seek bids and the okay of the state building commission to proceed.
The board is handling the project as a change order to the original work, which came in at a bid of approximately $1.7 million. Tolar Construction Company of Scottsboro completed the earlier renovations.
Van Peursem told the board Tuesday that they had saved $38,661.81 off the original bid price on the main renovation and praised Tolar and his crew for their work. He estimated it would take approximately $145,000 to complete the renovations discussed.
“This would really set the whole floor off,” Copenhaver said. “It would be a great, great addition to this facility.”
