Renovating the Bobby Ray gymnasium is going to be a monumental challenge, according to an architect in charge of the project.
 “Upland Design Group has been doing this a long time,” said architect Derrick Clemow. “It’s as rough a task as we’ve been asked to handle.”
Clemow made that comment while giving the county’s Education Committee an update on school construction projects at Irving College, Bobby Ray, and Warren County High School.
There are no existing plans of the entire Bobby Ray facility, so Upland is working on documenting the school.
Said Clemow, “We know we have a lot of issues concerning this building and there are a lot of users. The whole thing is going to be very complicated because it’s old, the floors are in bad shape, the bleachers are made of wood, there’s exiting requirements, there’s handicapped-accessibility requirements. This can be a lot of figuring out.”
Full plans are also being put together for Irving College to give the architects an accurate base to work from.
Irving College School has been renovated many times over the years and will also prove a challenge to the architects.
Said Clemow, “Problematically, it’s probably the most complicated program in terms of what’s going to happen and when and why and how.”
With Upland Design having been contracted in late October, not much progress has been made on the design process itself, with much of the focus being on reviewing the sites.
Said Clemow, “We’ll just explain where we’re at because we’re just barely commissioned. Upland designers are rolling up their sleeves and are preparing to answer a lot of questions, a lot of which we have ourselves.”
Surveying quotes for the WCHS Wellness Center have been received and are being reviewed by Upland. The high school will most likely be the first project tackled as new construction will go faster than the renovations.