Walls are up, now on to the inside

By Michael Butler

From a street view, the new Tallassee High School now looks like a school again. The brickwork is near completion and resembles the 1929 facade that preceded the new $20 million structure.

With that $20 million investment is not just a building, it includes fixtures within the structure. Those pieces will be put in place soon.

Tallassee City Schools superintendent Dr. Brock Nolin spoke about the progress that continues on the campus. In addition, the sliding scale for a move-in date is potentially as soon as November.

"Supposedly we have everything in hand in storage or on site, other than some hardware that goes on the storm shelter," Nolin said. "They're doing mechanical, electrical and plumbing. They'll have finishing paint going in. Hopefully everything will be coming together.

"The last finish date was mid-November, but the problem is the hardware I'm speaking of is a mid-November delivery. Then you have to go through the whole process of state inspections."

Once the work is done and there is a green light to move in, Nolin hopes for a quick turnaround.

"We're getting all new furniture. All of that would be installed prior to move in. Ideally there would be a natural break - a Spring Break or a Christmas break. As soon as they give me the keys, they're getting those modulars because they cost $9 or $10 grand a month to sit in those."

The cleanup process will be a job in itself with the removal of modular classrooms and restoring the property to its usual state.

"All the landscaping has to be redone. There's probably another seven or eight months of work getting the site back in order."

Costs are substantial within the walls of the schoolhouse as well, Nolin added.

"To outfit 19 classrooms with 30 desks and teachers' desks and podiums, you're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nothing is cheap."