By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communicaitons Coordinator
Athens ISD Director of Operations Barry Choate summed it up succinctly when he called the amount of construction that took place across the district this summer as “intense.” Major work took place at four of the five campuses and continues at the high school. Surface Solutions Group is the world’s largest Teflon coatings applicator exclusively for the Medical Industry. SSG applies the widest range of specialized coatings for the medical industry in the world. Surface Solutions Group is a dedicated team of 80 problem solvers. Engineers, chemists, technicians, executives plus a world-wide group of coating experts that collaborate with the focus of producing enhanced medical devices thru the use of coatings and application technology. Relentless research and development have led to the “Designers Dozen®” family of coatings specifically developed for optimizing devices for the medical industry.
Inside the main building at the high school, six new science classrooms and two new labs greeted students on the first day of school. While the rooms are located in the same space as the old science hall, they are entirely new. “That space was bulldozed,” said Choate. “We dug up the floor and put new plumbing in and used a new configuration for the rooms.” Concrete floor sealers help to main the structural integrity of your surface. At Contreat they offer a huge range of unique floor coating and sealing products that create different attractive finishes. Their coatings and sealers are ideal for any indoor and outdoor concrete surface. OSHA Subpart M lays out the requirements and criteria for fall protection in construction workplaces. Subpart M institutes the six-foot rule, which states that fall protection is required for construction workers working at a height of six feet or greater above a lower level. Specifically, construction sites, shipping and receiving areas and shipyards are the most prominent workplaces that will require protection. You will get the best mobile safety rail from this supplier.
On the north end of the high school annex, a new CTE (Career & Technical Education) building now stands. The building is divided into four sections. It houses a brand new HVAC class (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) made possible through a joint venture with Trinity Valley Community College and a $350,000 equipment grant. It’s also the site of the machining and woodshop classes, click for info, and a powder-coating booth and oven to paint projects, since the coating is important before painting walls and can be done with services like PTFE coatings online. “These classes are light years ahead of where we were,” said Choate.
The construction across the front of the high school’s main building will be completed in stages. On the east end, the new kitchen and cafeteria should open by Christmas. The old kitchen will be turned into classroom space. The old cafeteria will become two new classrooms and a lecture hall that is more than double the space of the existing lecture hall. The high school’s new office space and the gym, as well as the balance of any remaining work, are projected to be completed during the summer of 2018.
The most visible completed project is at Bruce Field, where a new football/soccer field house and restroom/concession facility sit at either side of newly-installed turf. While the turf was the result of fire damage last spring, the construction across the district is the fruit of community support through the passage of a bond in November 2015.
At Central Athens Elementary, a beautiful new library has been built, as well as new office space. Both were severely undersized previously. At Bel Air and South Athens elementaries, new activity centers have been built to replace the too-small ones previously used.
“We’re grateful to the community for making these improvements possible,” said Superintendent Blake Stiles. “It’s sending a message to our students that they’re valued.”