CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

June 26, 2009

New Cullman gym approved

By Trent Moore

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CULLMAN — The new Cullman High School gymnasium has officially been approved — and is expected to cost $1 million less than originally projected. The Cullman City School Board had budgeted up to $4.5 million for a new high school gym, but the lowest responsible bid returned this week came in at approximately $3.2 million. “We are just so excited about how far below this bid has come in,” school board member Brenda Howell said at a special board meeting Thursday to approve the project. “We’ve been very blessed.” Superintendent Dr. Jan Harris said the current state of the economy has likely contributed to lower construction costs. “Construction costs are down,” she said. “It’s perfect timing.” Woodward Construction will be the contractor for the project, which was designed by Davis Architects. The new structure will be located between the current gym and vocational building, on the high school campus. The construction process is expected to take approximately 12 months to complete, while work should begin within the next six weeks. “We hope to get started before the school year,” finance director Russell Raney said. Since the project came in so far below the expected cost, the school board also approved plans to add a football field house and a weight room to the basement of the design. “The football field house will have locker rooms, lockers and all of those things,” Harris said. “The weight room does not include weights ... so that is something we’ll have to look at down the line.” Cullman High School Principal Sheila Phillips said the new gym is needed due to overcrowding in the school’s current facilities. “We mainly need it for instructional space and training room,” she said. “We have a lot of overlap and scheduling issues currently with the athletic teams.” Phillips said the new gymnasium will allow the school’s physical education programs to continue to improve. “Not just for our coaches, but on behalf of our students we really want to see our PE programs move forward,” she said. “This will help us to continue to excel.” Harris said the project is a sign of the times, as more and more sports vie for gymnasium time. “If you look back 40-50 years ago, athletic programs were minimal to what we have now,” she said. “Now, we have girl’s sports, an expanded array of athletic offerings such as soccer, wrestling and so on. Now, we have so many needs for space, locker rooms and storage ... It will really be an asset for the school and community.” Looking toward the upcoming 2009-2010 school year, Phillips said she does not believe the construction will be much of a distraction for students. “We will have to re-route students, but there shouldn’t be a problem with it affecting instructional time,” she said.

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