Video: Work To Start Soon On Final Project In $13 Million Lee Co. School Bond Package

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GUNTOWN, MISS. (WCBI) –  The final project in a $13 million bond package for Lee County Schools is about to get underway.  As WCBI’s Allie Martin reports, the project will mean a new, safer and more energy efficient middle school.

For more than 18 months now, the main building at Guntown Middle School has sat vacant.  The school was built in the 1930s and the decades have taken a toll.

“We had some termite damage,  we had mold damage, when we brought in a structural engineer to examine the building, it was pretty quickly determined that it was going to be much more cost feasible to demolish that building, and build a new one,” Lee Co. School Dist. Supt. Jimmy Weeks said.

This week, Lee County School Board Members opened bids on the final project in a $13 million  bond package voters approved two years ago.  The project calls for the demolition of three buildings at Guntown Middle School.   Those will be replaced by a new , energy efficient structure.

Initial estimates put the cost at $2.5 million, but the low bid came in at $2 million.  That means extra funds for other needs.

“Of course when they come in lower, that’s great, that means money that will be able to remain in our general fund and we can use in classrooms, students, or buying a school bus or something like that,” Supt. Weeks said.

The new structure will preserve some history from the original building, such as the art deco facade.

“We had a group of citizens in Guntown, went to school in that building, the building was very important to them, they felt like it was important to the history of Guntown, so we met with that group and were able to come up with a design that closely replicates the original design on the building,” he said.

Demolition could begin as early as next week, the goal is to have these three buildings cleared by the time students come back for classes in August. Then construction can start on the final phase of the bond package.

Work will soon start on a 19 classroom addition at Shannon High School as part of the bond package.