Henry County Schools approved construction for the district office expansion project. The new building is part of education SPLOST VI.
The project will build a new three-story office building in downtown McDonough. The contract also includes renovations to the existing building.
District Office Expansion
The district office expansion will provide additional space for district office staff. Presently, the district office has several trailers for office space. They have been in use for about twenty years. The project will eliminate the need for such units.
The school board approved construction for the project at their May meeting. Bowen & Watson, Inc. of Toccoa, GA submitted the low bid out of two vendors. The cost will be $21.2 million.
Bowen & Watson has experience with the school district. They previously built McDonough Middle School.
The expansion has two parts. They include a new building and renovations at the existing building. First, the new building will be to the north of the current building. The three-story building will have a total square footage of 46,847. It will provide additional offices and conference room space for district staff. A new parking lot will be off Tomlinson Street.
Secondly, renovations at the current building include both exterior and interior work. Some of this work will be the repair and replacement of roof shingles, as well as replacing gutters. Interior work will touch up paint, provide floor replacement and upgrade the fire alarm. Finally, the project will add an outdoor walking path at the corner of highway 20 and Tomlinson Street.
Construction will start with the new building. Renovations at the current building will follow. The build time will last an estimated 18 months. It will be complete around New Year’s 2025.
Other E-SPLOST VI Projects
The new office space is part of the education SPLOST VI program. Voters approved the program at the ballot box in March 2021. Collections span from 2023 to 2027.
The district recently completed the first project. The new classroom addition at Dutchtown High School provides room for about five-hundred new students. Students will begin using the new space in August. The education SPLOST VI program will build space for 5,000 additional students by year 2028.
Some other projects within E-SPLOST VI include a new security access control system at each school. The system is in the final stages of implementation. The district will also build a new school bus maintenance facility. It will be beside Oakland Elementary in McDonough. HCS will consider bid award for the new facility at their June board meeting.
Featured image shows the district office expansion building elevations. Henry County Schools photo.
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