While school bells are about to ring for the year, construction crews are working at a furious pace trying to get Irving College School ready to go.
“They’re going to be working right up until time,” said architect Derrick Clemow of Upland Design during a progress report to the Board of Education.
Irving College expansion is estimated to cost $3 million. “I think everyone is going to need to have patience the first couple of weeks of school,” Clemow added.
The updates at the school include an entirely new section, most of which, Clemow revealed, is ready to run a punch list – meaning it is done. The portion includes a modern-looking cafeteria and a new gym, both of which are ready for the school year.
However, remodeling the older part of the school is still ongoing and updates will continue, when possible, as the new school year progresses.
“We are repurposing areas of the old part of the school,” said Clemow, noting engineers are trying to make the best use of space in the old building.
While there will still be some construction going on intermittently through the school year, there is also another big task ahead of planners when it comes to the school, that being constructing a new approach road running to and from Irving College School from Highway 56.
According to civil engineer Dave Almon, once the road is complete there will also need to be some safety aspects addressed on the main highway.
“People are still moving way too fast out there,” Almon said of motorists on Highway 56, noting he hopes the Tennessee Department of Transportation will work with the school to install caution lights around the entrance to the school. “We may also need to contact the sheriff’s department to help slow people down out there.”
Almon said there are still three projects that need to be looked at above and beyond what has already been planned for the school. Those include adding a parking lot that will accommodate 26 more cars, fixing the entrance road in front of the school, and installing new roof drains.