Multipurpose covered athletic complex comes in under budget at $5.9 million
BY STEVEN STIEFEL
FOR THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY — The Lee County Board of Education recently approved a $5.9 million multipurpose covered athletic complex at Smiths Station High School.
The Board approved a bid in the amount of $5,890,000 to Beasley Construction Services Inc. The board had initially budgeted $6 million for the facility, but it is projected to cost county taxpayers less, thanks, in part, to allowing additional time to solicit competitive project bids from four vendors submitting instead of just, in the shorter term, likely only one.
Board members added two bidding contingencies for painting I-beams and installing drop-down nets, but Superintendent Mike Howard advised against including those add-ons due to additional cost and practicality concerns since the work would delay project completion by a month and he worried the nets “could become sails” if not properly secured against strong crosswinds.
The school board reviewed artists renderings of the multipurpose field. Panels on the covered field are designed in sections, which is useful if damaged by straight-line winds, for example.
“If a tree limb runs right into the middle of the site, the way it is built, they can take one panel off and then replace just that, so the whole structure doesn’t have to be completely rewrapped, essentially,” the project architect stated.
The process of state review is already underway to speed up the process. The project includes a 30-year warranty.
Howard said the space has a 10-foot by 4-foot open-air on sides from top to bottom. He recommends adding a windbreaker material. Soccer bleachers are planned to line up along either sideline.
Howard was excited to see progress on so many projects, saying, “There’s a lot of stuff coming down real quick. Every community is going to have something big added to it, so everybody’s going to get a little benefit from the new playground.”
The Board also approved bids for improvements to those other athletic facilities. The bid was awarded to Lancour Contruction, LLC for $1,574,595.00.
“The reason that we’ve been so aggressive in trying to get this pushed through was the original plan is to have all of that done by Aug. 1,” Howard said. “The stadium improvements must be done by Aug. 1. We added to the bid for the high school renovation at the stadium, which has been much needed. We’re getting a new video scoreboard, which is going to be much nicer than what we have.
“We’re going from about 200 usable seats in the end zone to over 1,000. And then we’re also adding some bathrooms, which are much needed at the stadium to alleviate some of the congestion on those sides. If the bleachers aren’t fully completed, that’s okay because that’s on the far end. It cuts the cost way down by not having to add bathrooms. As long as the school board’s done, I feel good, and I feel real good about that for August,” Howard said.
“The multi-purpose complex is probably going to take a little bit longer than the Aug. 1 deadline. I’m going to push them hard now because I really want them in there and be used at the new school year, but they’re giving me basically saying October to be safe, but I’m going to push them. Let’s just fingers crossed we have good weather.”
Phase two, to be completed later, includes adding a weight room, locker rooms, and bathroom area that attaches to the multipurpose field and will serve as a breezeway to the current field house area.
Howard said the facility can be of use to other schools as well.
“It’s going to open up a lot of opportunities for all of our school systems to benefit. It’ll be large enough to hold a graduation if we need to. It allows us to have a covered safe facility to where in the summer months when it feels like 150 degrees outside, but we’ll have a place where users can go under and turn on the big fans and be able to practice and do what we need to do in there.
“It’s truly going to be open for all of our students. Band is planning to use it to do some of their marching routines and stuff in a covered area to protect those students. I’m excited about our elementary schools being able to use it for field days. We can actually bring food trucks up, park them right next to it and have them everything on the field to be contained in the fence. I mean, it’s going to create something that’s very special for Smith Station.”
Howard said the covered field will be the first one like it in the state of Alabama for a high school.
“There’s not a high school that has a full football field — sideline length to length — that is fully covered. And most of them are like 60 yards. Some are, you know, like Phenix City’s. So this will be the first one of its kind. We’ll be able to put a little feather in our cap on that part, too. I’m excited about that.”
He also commented on the high school renovation at the stadium, also much needed.
“We’re getting a new video scoreboard, which is going to be much nicer than what we have. We’re going from about 200 usable seats in the end zone to over 1,000. And then we’re also adding some bathrooms, which are much needed at the stadium to alleviate some of the congestion on those sides. Once we get all that done, that’ll renovate that. It looks like football got a bunch of stuff, but really, you know, everybody’s going to benefit, whether it be middle school or high school or even some community activities,” he said.
