Hoover school board votes to move forward with Hoover High arts center

The Hoover school board today voted unanimously to approve a $15.4 million construction contract for a new performing arts center at Hoover High School despite costs coming in much greater than anticipated.

When the school board hired an architectural firm and construction program manager a year ago, the estimated construction cost for the arts center was $9.7 million, but when bids came in this spring, the lowest bidder said it could do the job for $17.4 million — 79% higher than previously projected.

The school board in late June tabled a vote on the contract and authorized the superintendent to negotiate to try reach a lower cost. Since that time, the low bidder — Blalock Building Co. — worked with school officials to make some changes and lower the cost by $2 million to $15.4 million.

Going into today’s school meeting, school board President Amy Tosney said she was unsure if the board would proceed because some board members still had hesitations about the higher cost.

The board met for more than an hour in a work session at 11 a.m. to review the matter.

Mark David, a senior vice president at Blalock Building, said his company was able to reduce the price by $2 million in large part due to changes in the roof and mechanical system. Other changes included removing tile wall coverings in the bathrooms, using a different fabric on the auditorium seats, making minor changes in the rigging and electrical systems, and delaying some aesthetic features such as canopies outside building entrances.

They left the seating at 940 seats, kept the stage the same size (50 feet wide and 40 feet deep) and didn’t want to make any changes that would significantly impact the quality of performances, so they made no changes in things such as the audio/visual system, Blalock said.

Tosney, who didn’t want to change the size of the building, asked how much money would be saved if the size of the building were cut from 36,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet and seating were reduced.

Architect Rick Lathan said that probably would save about $1.7 million to $2 million if construction material prices remained stable, but the project would have to be rebid if the size of the building was modified, and any cost savings likely would be eaten up by expected cost increases as the price of materials continues to escalate.

Plus, going to 20,000 square feet would cut out about 200 seats, leaving 740 seats, which in a couple of years would not even leave enough seating for a full grade level, Lathan said.

Board members Craig Kelley and Kermit Kendrick said everyone on the board sees a need for a new performing arts center at Hoover High, but they’re just trying to be fiscally responsible in deciding about whether to proceed with costs so high.

Kendrick said there’s nothing wrong with them asking tough questions about the issue. “We have a fiduciary duty to be fiscally responsible,” he said.

Tosney, who has been pushing for a new performing arts center ever since she came on the board five years ago, said she was concerned it might not ever happen if they don’t do it now. If they wait and rebid with a smaller design, the cost could come in the same with fewer seats, she said.

Board member Alan Paquette said it makes sense to proceed when 47% of the students at Hoover High are involved in performing arts programs and costs are only going to continue to escalate.

“This is a facility that’s long overdue,” Paquette said.

Tosney asked the school system’s chief financial officer, Michele McCay, whether the board could pay $15.4 million for the arts center and still keep its reserves where they need to be.

McCay said bondholders like the school system to maintain at least five months’ worth of reserves, and if revenues and expenditures remained fairly stable, the school system still would have 5.2 months’ worth of reserves at the end of fiscal 2028.

When it came time for a vote at a 1 p.m. action meeting, all five board members voted in favor of proceeding with the project, followed by loud cheers from arts supporters in the audience.

Tosney, after the vote, said she was overwhelmed with excitement. She wasn’t sure how the vote would go, and she likes the fact that all the board members worked through the matter together.

“It’s a good board — thoughtful questions,” she said.

Seeing the project get approved means everything to her, she said, noting she’ll get to see her youngest daughter, who is in the choir, perform on that stage before she graduates.

“I’m so excited to see all the things that are going to be presented on that stage,” Tosney said. “I don’t think anyone can comprehend all the wonderful ways the entire student body will be able to use that building.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Hoover High band director, said he, too was very excited to see the project get approval.

“It represents a tremendous opportunity for our students both now and in the future,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m greatly appreciative of their leadership and willingness to put opportunity at the forefront of their decision making.”

During the work session, Fitzpatrick said that of the 32 schools in the 7A high school division, only two — Foley and Fairhope — did not have auditoriums, and they share an auditorium with nearby Daphne High School. Opelika High School uses a city-financed community arts center, but beyond those, Hoover High is at “the bottom of the barrel” when it comes to performing arts facilities in 7A, he said.

Hoover bands have to perform in their gym and have had to borrow rehearsal space from Samford University when preparing for high-level performances elsewhere, he said.

A 940-seat theater is not a” luxury” or “excessive,” Fitzpatrick said. Compared with other 7A schools, “we’re asking for average,” he said.

Hoover is one of the largest high schools in the state, with enrollment expected to be 2,880 this year.

Dalton Dismukes, an incoming senior at Hoover High who is a drum major in the band, said the performing arts students at Hoover are extremely grateful the board moved forward with the project. He knows it won’t be completed in time for him to use it, but “this is going to have a tremendous impact on students years and years away,” he said.

Superintendent Dee Fowler noted the school board a year ago discussed the very contentious issue of masks in schools in a public setting, and he appreciates this board’s courage to discuss another issue publicly, even when they might not agree on certain things.

He’s been in education a long time, and he appreciates them handling differences of opinion in a public setting instead of behind closed doors in a smoke-filled room, he said.

Matt Wilson, the school system’s director of operations, said it should take a couple of weeks to get the construction contract completed and approved by the state, and he hopes construction can start in about three weeks. Once construction starts, it should take 16 to 17 months to complete, he said.

The school board is using bond money from the state to provide most of the funding for this project.