Restrooms in the Heritage High School commons area will be updated, and security vestibules will be constructed at seven county schools after the Blount County Board of Education approved funding for the projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planning for a new elementary school in Walland, however, was put on hold at the Feb. 5 meeting to allow board members more time to further evaluate site and funding considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Board members approved $64,000 for architectural design services to construct security vestibules at seven Blount County Schools. Construction is planned to begin in fiscal year 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security vestibules are designed to prevent visitors from interacting with students until they are approved to enter the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board approved $239,300 to update fixtures and bring the Heritage High School restrooms in the main commons area into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
School officials said the restrooms, which serve the cafeteria, gymnasium and theater, have not been updated since the school opened in 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five contractors submitted bids for the project, including BRC Construction; George W. Reagan Co. Inc.; Jenkins and Stiles; and Holston Construction Services. The contract was awarded to Knoxville-based Skilled Services LLC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Construction is expected to begin at a time that minimizes disruption to school activities, said Director of Schools Justin Ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Board members agreed the current Walland Elementary School building \u2014 originally constructed in 1925 as a combined four-year high school and elementary school \u2014 has surpassed its useful life and must be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They said the building requires frequent maintenance and that major repairs are imminent to maintain functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board voted to table the project to further examine funding and site options before making a final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A feasibility study completed in 2025 determined that a proposed site on Blount County Board of Education-owned property on East Miller Cove Road, across from the existing school, was suitable for construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knoxville-based Lewis Group Architects was selected to provide initial architectural and design services for the approximately 75,000-square-foot building, which would serve about 500 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the $1,443,750 design agreement, the firm\u2019s educational planner, Dr. Brian Bell, will work with district administrators, the design team and school staff to establish project goals and objectives. Educational capital funding for this phase was allocated through the capital Fund 177 in the district\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project would then proceed through schematic design, design development, construction drawings, bidding and negotiation, construction administration, food service design and engineering services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Construction costs are estimated at $350 per square foot, or approximately $26.25 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Funding options will be identified during the design phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board authorized the Blount County purchasing agent to auction a 2013 Dodge Avenger with nearly 100,000 miles to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vehicle, acquired in 2016, was previously used for homebound teacher visits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Restrooms in the Heritage High School commons area will be updated, and security vestibules will be constructed at seven county schools after the Blount County Board of Education approved funding for the projects. Planning for a new elementary school in Walland, however, was put on hold at the Feb. 5 meeting to allow board members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-making-moves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnews.blountcounty.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}