Board approves early graduation and field house renovation

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. – The Union County Board of Education allowed two students to graduate early and approved field house renovations during their meeting held on Tuesday, December 17, 2019.

Liam Green and Sarah Miles both completed all graduation requirements, and have been certified by the counselor and high school principal C.T. Hussion to graduate early. The board voted unanimously on the approval of this petition.

The board also unanimously approved the bid for renovations to the field house.

Originally, this was estimated to cost 1.8 million, a number which the board considered too high.

After speaking with Randy Day, in charge of permitting for the county, Charles Black construction was recommended for the bid at $947,350.

Upon accepting the bid, the Board also agreed that HVAC installation will be done in-house to save $116,350, not to include material fees.

The existing field house will be altered by an addition on the back of the building to create two separate dressing areas (a JV area and a Varsity area), a training room on the upper left of the field house, and an area for showers, restrooms, etc. for the varsity players. These changes will also upgrade the coaches area slightly.

The new field house, much smaller, is also intended to be dual-use. It is designed with knock-out walls, and the right-hand side can be used as an entirely new area. This would also create one large locker room, a large bathroom and a dressing room.

The exterior of both the new and the old buildings are reportedly designed to match.

Additionally, the board also voted unanimously to approve an upgrade to the field turf of the football/soccer field.

These modifications include inter laid dark and light striping on the field.

The initial quote for the field turf upgrade was $608,395. However, the coaches felt the center angle didn’t show up well enough, that there was an imbalance because the north end of the field displayed the word Union, the opposite end displaying the word Panthers. Each added letter costs $1,750.

The coaches also wanted the purple in the area for the athletes to stand, with a white border surrounding the entire logo.

$610,673 was the final agreed upon price, which also provides two additional years of warranty. It is reported to be the same turf that is in use at the Mercedes Benz stadium.

A video of the entire meeting may be viewed below!

 

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