Chamber members tour new high school

Supt. Joe Waleszonia (Second from left) points out features of the new school building. (Democrat photo/Ruth Ann Estes) [Click to enlarge]

Trumann Schools Superintendent Joe Waleszonia gave six local Chamber of Commerce members a progress report and tour of the new Trumann High School complex last Friday morning. Representatives from two local banks, the Bank of Trumann and Regions Bank took the tour.

Bank of Trumann employees Rick Gillette, Paul McAnally, Zach Inboden and Anthony Patterson took the tour along with Regions Bank employees Suzanne Sloan and Lisa Young.

Waleszonia took the group through various parts of the complex now under construction. Most of the school's 29 classrooms are now under roof.

"Work on the classrooms will progress more quickly now that the roofing is complete," Waleszonia said.

Inclement weather has caused some delay in the construction process. Now that the classrooms are enclosed crews can concentrate on the classroom construction even when the weather is bad.

The State of Arkansas is contributing $10 million towards the price of construction for the new school. The Trumann School District received a millage increase that will raise an additional 6.5 million for the project.

Total price of the Trumann High School complex project is $17,862, 211. School board members made changes to the school plans last fall after bids for the new school came in at $19.4 million. The project was approved by voters in 2006 when costs were estimated at $15.9 million.

In addition to 29 classrooms, the new school will have band and choir rooms with

practice rooms, an auditorium that will seat 550, a cafeteria that will seat 275, and a gymnasium that will seat 1,800. It will also have an agricultural shop and a mechanical shop and a physical education area.

Both educational wings of the main building are under construction. A portion of the new gym has been constructed and the contractor plans to pour the gym floor (pad) this week.

No work on the auditorium has been done to date. The contractor plans to pour concrete for the auditorium in the near future.

The new high school complex was designed by Jerry Brackett and George Krennerich. It will house 550 students in grades 9-12. The school will have 19 core curriculum classrooms in addition to band and choir rooms. The building will also house vocational areas for classes including agriculture, ROTC, business education, home economics, special education and physical education.

The only program not housed on the new school campus will be the THS football program. The Wildcats will continue to practice and play at the old school campus. The THS football field was constructed in the 1940's by local volunteers and local civic groups.

Superintendent Waleszonia said a decision on a new football field at the new school has not been made.

"We (the school district) will be responsible for 100% of the cost for the new football field," he said. "That decision will wait until we see where we are fiscally after the construction of the new school."

The new school campus does have room allotted for a new football field at the left end of the campus. Estimates have been made that consideration of construction of a new football are at least five to six years down the road.

THS will still utilize the auditorium on the present high school campus on Pine Avenue for larger gatherings. The present auditorium seats 1,500 and is used for numerous school and civic gatherings.

The auditorium at the new high school complex, seating 550, will be utilized for school assemblies, drama productions and band concerts.

The new THS gymnasium will seat 1,800 and meet state regulations enabling Trumann High School to hold regional and state basketball tournaments in the future.

Waleszonia told school board members in April that contractors estimated they were at least eight weeks behind on the school construction. The project has been plagued with inclement weather and delays in steel shipments.

The school district expects to be in the new school in August of 2009.

Students in grades 5-8 will utilize the present high school campus in 2009. Central School will be closed. The Trumann School Board has yet to decide the fate of the Central School building. They have fielded several inquiries from interested buyers.