By Steve Carr
Last November 2, voters agreed to an extra 1% sales tax, and almost $30, 000, 000 of it will be spent to renovate Maynard Jackson High School located on Glenwood Avenue. The school, originally built as Southside High School, will be reconfigured for the already instituted small learning communities, including the new highly respected International Baccalaureate program.
Design development will begin in January, with a third project committee meeting scheduled for April 30, 2012. Construction will begin July 1,2012 and will take over a year. Plans call for the current facility to close with students and staff to be housed in a presently unused Atlanta Public Schools structure. Rumor has it, that either the old Harper Archer on the far west side or another old school in Edgewood will be pressed into service. Some local parents are unhappy about this arrangement. The school system has taken this approach as other schools have been upgraded; but, when renovations took place at Grady High School in midtown, students were not moved and were housed in portables on that campus during the construction. The details of the plan for Jackson have not been released.
Renovations at Jackson will include upgrades to classrooms, support spaces including cafeteria and kitchen, theater, gymnasium, and locker rooms, art and music rooms. The new media center will house a network operations center and new data, voice and video systems. New systems will include HVAC, intercom, mechanical controls, fire alarm and security, an elevator, and plumbing. New casework and furniture, paint, flooring, and window blinds, as well as upgrades to landscaping and hardscaping, will complete the redo.
The football field, which was recently renovated, will get another hit with new artificial turf. The baseball field will also get attention, as will the three tennis courts, which are currently used on rare occasions. The entrance to the school will be moved to the east side of the building facing the football field and the Beltline parking lots will be reconfigured.
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