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  • Construction crews work to build the foundations for the new bleachers at Tigers Stadium Monday morning. The stadium renovations are just one portion of the improvements throughout the district. Robby Robertson/Athens Review

    Malakoff ISD Construction.jpg

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June 14, 2010

MISD structures receiving facelifts

Malakoff Independent School Superintendent says these are projects that are long-awaited

Robby Robertson The Athens Review

Athens — Malakoff Independent School District is under construction... of sorts. Everything from the football stadium to inside the high school, elementary schools and the old Rock Building is getting some face lifts.

“These are some things we have needed to do for a long time,” Malakoff Superintendent Dr. John Spies said. “It’s going to be very nice for the district.”

The improvements are made possible due to the $4.9 million  bond that passed last month. The monies will be used to:

• completely renovate “the old rock building,” and provide eight regular classrooms, a science lab and a computer lab;

• renovate Tiger Stadium, including new bleachers on both sides, a new press box and some stadium seating, new restrooms;

• add a security entrance to both Malakoff Elementary and Tool Elementary;

• new tennis courts at the high school;

• renovate the locker area at high school to create six additional classrooms;

• new agricultural building at the high school.

The most visable renavation at first will be Tiger Stadium. The bleachers and press box on both sides have been completely removed.

Construction crews are in the process of building steel bleachers that will increase the seating on the home side by 600. The former wooden bleachers held a capacity of 900. The new seating will be 1,500.

The reserve section in the center will also have 10 rows of fold-down stadium seating, and the remaining eight rows will have seating with steel backs on them.

“This is such a great renovation for us,” Spies said. “The seating is going to make football games very nice for our fans.”

Spies said a new press box will also go up on the home side. He said he expects it to have much more room than the former press box.

“We are also adding new steel bleachers on the visitors’ side,” Spies said. “We will go from 500 capacity to 800. We are also renovationg our restrooms at the stadium.”

Other additions at the high school include six new classrooms where the lockers were. Spies said students will no longer have a need for lockers when they keep their books in their rooms.

“Now that we don’t need the lockers anymore, we wanted to take that area, and make class rooms out of it,” he said. “We are going to add two science labs, a journalism room, enlarge the art room and a computer lab.”

A 6,000 square-foot agriculture building is also in the works at the school, along with two tennis courts on the west side of the building.

“Before, we didn’t have the space for students to keep animals at the school, and now we do,” Spies said. “This should give our ag department plenty of space to work with their animals.”

Spies said the outside of the rock building will remain the same, accept for the windows, but the inside will be gutted, and built mostly from scratch.

“We will replace the roof and inside. Every three classrooms will now be two,” he said. “The hall walls are load-bearing walls, so they will remain, but the floors and rooms will totally be re-worked.”

Work on the rock building is set to start in September, according to Spies. Most of the high-school construction should be finished by the time school starts.

Spies said the school has applied for a grant that will pay for the interest on the bonds. It is estimated to bring in an additional $250,000 to the district each year.

“I think we were the second school to turn in their application for the grant,” Spies said. “I sent our police officer with the application the day before, and someone showed up at 6:30 that morning to take it. From what I understand, most of the other schools were there by 7:30 or 7:45. I was glad we beat them all.”

Spies was also all smiles over the fact the Malakoff may be an Exemplary school district this year. He said he doesn’t want to bragg too much right now, but thinks it could be between one or two students.

The Texas Education Agency ranks districts from Acceptible to Exempalry status each year.

“I am very proud of our district,” he said. “Two years ago, we had to fight to keep the middle school even acceptable, and now we could be Exemplary for the entire district.

“I credit all of our teachers for the hard work they do. We have the best principals anywhere, and they do a great job of staying in touch with parents, and see that the teachers do the same. I also think we pay better than other districts, so we get the cream of the crop when teachers apply here.”

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