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The Shelby County Board of Education approved an emergency declaration for Chelsea High School football stadium press box at the June 23 meeting. Assistant Superintendent of Operations David Calhoun said a recent discovery was made of water damage issues to the press box. Much of the rear wall has water damage and construction damage and the roof was reported as being not structurally stable.
After further examination, a 15-foot section of a water damaged wall was removed to expose existing wall studs, wood floor joists and plywood floor sheathing.
“There's an extensive amount of rot and water damage, so much so that there are some structural safety concerns that require immediate attention,” Calhoun said. “The emergency declaration that will allow us to move quickly to address these concerns.”
Calhoun said a structural engineer has already assessed a portion of the damage and determined immediate action was necessary. The emergency repairs include replacing existing wall studs, replacing double top plates, replacing sill plates, replacing wall sheathing, repairing ceiling joists with sistered joists where the end are rotted, repairing floor joists with sistered joists where rot exists and all other necessary repairs to ensure the structural integrity of the press box and ancillary structures.
Calhoun said the intent is to have the repairs complete and ready for football season.
In the architecture and construction report, Facilities Coordinator Barbara Snyder reported on other projects going on at Chelsea schools. A pod integration project is underway at Chelsea Middle School due to the need for additional student lockers. The carpet will be pulled up and VCT (vinyl composition tile) will be installed, along with a new a new ceiling and lockers. The family consumer science room at the middle school will also be getting new VCT [flooring].
As the track and turf project continues at the high school, the goal is to get the middle school football field ready to host the Blue & White game later this summer, if needed. A Chelsea resident is donating his time and materials to install some French drains. The fencing project was also completed recently and Snyder said it would be very beneficial, Snyder said.
At Chelsea High School, new VCT [flooring] has been put down in several hallways and new HVAC units were delivered last week.
During the superintendent’s Report, Dr. Lewis Brooks recognized several things that have taken place at recent conferences.
At the CLAS conference (Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools), Oak Mountain’s Larry Haynes was recognized as the Middle School Principal of the Year for the state, which is a great honor for him.
Brooks said he is also honored the county was recognized as a spotlight school district for science of reading.
“We got a lot of really good comments from the state superintendent and from colleagues across the state,” Brooks said. “That means a lot to me as the leader of the district and certainly speaks to the work of our outstanding instructional team, Dr. Lynn Carol, Dr. Leah Ann Wood and Debbie Horton and for their work. We have great teachers and great leaders. The things that we've been recognized for in the various conferences over the last few weeks speak to just what we do here in Shelby County so thank you to everyone.”
During the meeting, the SCBOE also approved:
- FY2022 Budget Amendment 2
- Bid for CNP Produce
- Revision of Principal Contract
- Personnel Actions
- Bid for Classroom Additions to Calera High School to Kaiser Construction
The next SCBOE meeting will be July 14 at noon at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.
