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School set to open for the 2013-2014 school year
A worker welds together metal pipes as construction continues on the new Fort Gay PreK-8 on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Fort Gay.
Purchase this photoFORT GAY -- As construction on the new school in Fort Gay progresses, so does the excitement level, school officials say.
The school, which will house students from Pre-K through eighth grade, is 65 percent complete and on schedule to open for the 2013-2014 school year.
Ron Jarrell, the clerk of works on the project, said construction is moving smoothly as the final pieces of roof are put on.
He also said the 95,000-square-foot school has reinvigorated the community. Teachers at the current Fort Gay elementary and middle schools, he said, are always asking for tours to see their new, 21st-century facility.
In addition, he said students at the old school next door often walk down the street to see where they'll be next school year.
"They're always saying, 'Oh yeah, I'm going to get to go there,'" Jarrell said.
The school, located at the end of Vancouver and Broadway streets, cost just under $20 million, with about $15.6 million of the cost being paid for by the state's School Building Authority. The L-shaped school will have a two-story academic wing to house Pre-K through fifth grade on the first floor and sixth through eighth grade on the second floor. The high-school sized gymnasium sets in the center, with the library and cafeteria to the right of the gym.
The property formerly housed the baseball and football fields used by Fort Gay High School. The baseball field was being used by Tolsia High School, which has relocated.
Both the elementary and middle school date back to the 1930s, with middle school students attending classes in the former Fort Gay High School.
