Hoover breaks ground for 13-classroom addition at Berry Middle School

Hoover school officials today broke ground for a 13-classroom addition at Berry Middle School.

Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said Berry is almost at capacity right now, and the school needs more classrooms to better handle the current number of students and prepare for future growth.

“We’re always looking at our buildings. We’re always looking at the number of students in our buildings. We’re always in collaboration with our city about growth and development,” Murphy said. “As we try not to be caught off guard with growth or additional students, this is the time for us to expand this building so we can accommodate the students that will be coming into our district.”

This school year, Berry has about 1,210 students, compared to 1,129 in the 2014-15 school year, according to state records.

While Berry is at 99.99 percent of capacity, Hoover’s other two middle schools are at less than 90 percent capacity, so this will bring Berry more in line with the other middle schools, Hoover schools spokesman Jason Gaston said.

However, this addition will be smaller than originally planned. After reviewing growth trends, school officials scaled it back from 18 classrooms to 13 classrooms.

Blalock Building Co. won a $7.1 million contract for the three-story addition, which will include 10 regular classrooms, three science labs, a teacher workroom and an enclosed walkway to another part of the building. The square footage of the school will increase by 24,471 square feet from 192,117 square feet to 216,588 square feet, said Matt Wilson, the school system's operations coordinator.

Originally, the plan was to have six classrooms on each of three floors, but now there will be four new classrooms on each of two floors, and a fifth classroom on the other one, Wilson said.

Blalock Building Co. was the lowest of five bidders for the job, he said. The Hoover school board awarded the contract in a special meeting on Oct. 28.

In addition to the $7.1 million construction contract, fees for Lathan Associates Architects are expected to run about $465,000, Wilson said.

The addition will be built on the west side of the school, sitting slightly back from the front of the school but matching the current exterior in color and architectural design, Wilson said.

Bus pickup and drop-off will continue to be in the front and rear of the school, and carpool traffic will continue in the same location on the eastern side of the school, he said.

Wilson said actual construction is scheduled to start Jan. 2 and should take 12 to 16 months to complete. The expected completion date in the contract is March 1, which would mean students likely would start using the classrooms in August 2021, he said.

Construction can take place without impacting school operations, architect Rick Lathan said.

This will be the second major addition at Berry. The first one came in 2006 — just a year after the school opened in 2005 — after former school officials decided to completely close the former Berry Middle School on Columbiana Road and move the entire school to the new site next to Spain Park High School.

Hoover school officials also have considered and had preliminary plans drawn for an eight-classroom addition at Bluff Park Elementary, but that addition was placed on hold as the student population stabilized somewhat.

The school board visited Bluff Park Elementary again today to review the situation there.

Other capital projects that are planned for 2020 include $3.9 million for heating and air conditioning upgrades ($2.8 million for upgrades in all school buildings and $1.1 million to replace cooling towers at Greystone, Shades Mountain and South Shades Crest elementary).

The district also plans to pay $2.5 million to replace part of the roof at Hoover High School, $2.1 million to renovate part of the old Bluff Park Elementary School, $800,000 for flooring projects, $600,000 for paving projects, $550,000 for architectural designs for a fine arts facility, $350,000 for window replacements, $180,000 for painting projects and $127,500 for miscellaneous capital projects.