With a plan in-place and the money now available, the renovations to the old Crawford Elementary School gymnasium should soon begin.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Lowndes County District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith, who has long advocated for the old gym to be renovated and used as multi-purpose center. “This is something that’s really going to be a big boost to the community.”
The gym, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, adjacent to the Crawford Community Center, has been idle for years.
It shows, too.
“It needs a lot of work,” said project engineer Stanley Spradling. “Sometimes, you have to fit the project to the money available. We’re going to squeeze every dollar to get as much done as possible.”
Spradling’s cost estimate, delivered to the supervisors in January, showed it would take $445,000 to make all the renovations and improvements.
“I think what we wound up with in funding was right at $435,000,” Spradling said.
The money comes from the state’s bond package, which was approved as the 2019 legislative session ended in March.
Spradling said that since there is little, if any, wiggle room in the budget, the improvements will be prioritized.
“With any building, it can’t be leaking, so we’ll start with replacing the roof,” Spradling said. “We’ll have to go in and re-do the bathrooms. They are in really bad shape. The side panels have rusted on the bottom, so they’ll have to be replaced. Then, we’ll put in a new floor. And, of course, we’ll have to get the HVAC and lighting in shape.
“If possible, and the money works out, we’d like to add some new bleachers,” he added. “We want to do as much as we can with the money we have. Hopefully, we can get it all done for what’s available. That’s our goal.”
While the needed work is extensive, planners did catch one big break.
“We won’t have to do any asbestos abatement,” Spradling said. “That was very good news. We thought, going in, we’d have to do some of that. So that’s real cost-savings for the project.”
The bond funds should be released in July. Once completed, the gym will be operated by the Lowndes County Recreation Department.
“It’s going to be about a one-year project, which means it should be open in July of 2020,” said LCRD Director Roger Short. “Once we get it opened, it’s really going to be something the whole community can use. We’ll be able to use it for AAU (basketball) and our summer day camp programs.
“The floor we’ll be putting down has kind of a vinyl-plastic feel to it and it’s really a multi-use surface,” he added. “It’s the same floor we put in at the East Columbus gym. It has lines for basketball and volleyball and on the side, we have it lined for shuffleboard. We really want this to be something that can handle pretty much anything the community wants to do.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
READER FAVORITES
Related Photos
Jeff Smith
Roger Short
