Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover school officials are proposing to spend $2.56 million to add an automotive academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center, as well as $1 million for additional parking there, as part of $64 million five-year capital plan.
Hoover City Schools Chief Financial Officer Michele McCay on Tuesday presented a proposed plan to spend almost $65 million on capital projects in the next five fiscal years.
A year ago, the plan was to spend about $44 million in those five years. However, some of the projects from the current fiscal year — 2023 — are expected to carry over into 2024 and 2027, and school officials have added $14.3 million worth of new projects to the capital plan that weren’t there before.
Those new projects not previously defined include:
- $2.56 million to add an automotive academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center
- $2.4 million for football turf replacement
- $1.2 million to remove and regrade a hill at the Hoover High School baseball facility
- $1.5 million to add parking in conjunction with the Hoover High baseball project
- $1.12 million for a roofing project at Gwin Elementary
- $1 million for additional parking at the Riverchase Career Connection Center
- $750,000 for shower upgrades at the Simmons Middle School football locker room
- $600,000 for a roofing project at the Blue Ridge gym
- $540,000 for awning extensions at Rocky Ridge, Shades Mountain and South Shades Crest elementary schools
- $500,000 for additional parking at Green Valley Elementary
- $500,000 for window washing over five years
- $400,000 for bleachers at Bumpus Middle School and Gwin Elementary
- $250,000 for a new playground at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School if that school is converted to a full K-5 elementary school
- $250,000 for pressure washing over five years
- $200,000 for locker upgrades at Simmons Middle School
- $150,000 for painting of stairwells, doors and baseboards
- $125,000 for bathroom upgrades (mirrors, sinks and petitions)
- $100,000 for replacement of rugs at school entrances
- $50,000 for a storefront at a Hoover High School multipurpose building
- $25,000 for clock upgrades
The capital plan still includes $25.1 million for a new elementary school and $4.5 million for a classroom addition at Bluff Park Elementary. However, the Bluff Park classroom addition that a year ago was expected to be in fiscal 2023 now is not expected to be needed until fiscal 2027 due to a slowdown in population growth, McCay said.
The new elementary school, predicted to be needed in western Hoover, is not expected to open until the fall of 2029.
The proposed five-year capital plan calls for the Hoover school system to spend $14.5 million in fiscal 2024, $9 million in fiscal 2023, $4.7 million in fiscal 2026, $19.1 million in fiscal 2027 and $17.5 million in fiscal 2028.
However, Superintendent Dee Fowler said the capital plan has been very fluid in recent years and likely will continue to be fluid. Some capital projects planned for the rest of this fiscal year could end up carrying over into fiscal 2024, which starts Oct. 1, McCay said. Also, school officials still don’t how much to really expect in capital funds from the state for fiscal 2024, McCay said.
The updated capital plan as of now is just a proposal and has not yet been approved by the Hoover Board of Education. It likely will come up for a vote by the school board at its June 13 meeting.
Here’s a full breakdown of the proposed capital plan as it stands now, by year, but not including projects in the current fiscal year:
FISCAL 2024
$2.7 million – Remove and regrade hill at Hoover High baseball facility and add parking
$1.6 million – Transportation building addition
$1.5 million – Spain Park High School theater upgrade
$1.5 million – Bus fleet renewal
$1.4 million – Roofing projects (Rocky Ridge Elementary, Spain Park High and Simmons Middle phase two)
$1,328,158 – HVAC conversion (Green Valley and Rocky Ridge elementary schools and Farr Administration Building)
$1.2 million – Athletic field upgrade at Bumpus Middle
$750,000 – New playgrounds (Shades Mountain and Deer Valley elementary schools and Brock’s Gap Intermediate
$700,000 – HVAC projects at Riverchase Elementary
$350,000 – Painting
$200,000 – Simmons Middle School locker upgrades
$200,000 – Flooring project (60 classrooms at Hoover High, hallways at Green Valley Elementary and Bumpus Middle School library)
$200,000 – Furniture replacement (Hoover High teacher chairs, Green Valley Elementary student chairs)
$200,000 – Paving
$200,000 – Lighting
$125,000 – Bathroom upgrades (mirrors, sinks, petitions)
$100,000 – Window washing
$100,000 – Entrance rug replacements
$50,000 – Storefront for Hoover High multipurpose building
$50,000 – Pressure washing
$25,000 – School clock upgrades
Total for 2024: $14,478,158
FISCAL 2025:
$2.5 million – Automotive Academy at Riverchase Career Connection Center
$1.2 million – Roofing projects (Rocky Ridge Elementary and Blue Ridge gym)
$1 million – Additional parking at Riverchase Career Connection Center
$750,000 – Simmons Middle school football shower upgrades
$720,000 – Awning extensions (Greystone, Rocky Ridge, Shades Mountain and South Shades Crest elementary schools)
$600,000 – HVAC projects
$400,000 – Bleachers at Gwin Elementary and Bumpus Middle
$300,000 – Gym floor replacement at Gwin Elementary
$250,000 – New playground at Gwin Elementary
$200,000 – Flooring project (stairwells)
$200,000 – Furniture replacement
$200,000 – Painting
$200,000 – Paving
$200,000 – Lighting
$150,000 – Roofing project at Riverchase Career Connection Center fieldhouse
$100,000 – Window washing
$50,000 – Pressure washing
Total for 2025: $9,080,000
FISCAL 2026
$1.12 million – Architect fees for new elementary school
$1 million – Roofing project at Gwin Elementary
$600,000 – Roofing project at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School
$600,000 – HVAC
$250,000 – New playground at Bluff Park Elementary
$200,000 – Flooring project (stairwells)
$200,000 – Furniture replacement
$200,000 – Painting
$200,000 – Paving
$200,000 – Lighting
$100,000 – Window washing
$50,000 – Pressure washing
Total for 2026: $4,720,000
FISCAL 2027
$12 million – New elementary school (first half; school projected to open fall 2029)
$4.5 million – Classroom addition at Bluff Park Elementary
$600,000 – Roofing
$600,000 – HVAC
$250,000 – New playground at Green Valley Elementary
$200,000 – Flooring (stairwells)
$200,000 – Furniture replacement
$200,000 – Painting
$200,000 – Paving
$200,000 – Lighting
$100,000 – Window washing
$50,000 – Pressure washing
Total for 2027: $19.1 million
FISCAL 2028:
$12 million – New elementary school (second half; projected to open fall 2029)
$2.4 million – Football turf replacement
$600,000 – Roofing
$600,000 – HVAC
$500,000 – Additional parking at Green Valley Elementary
$250,000 – New playground at Rocky Ridge Elementary
$200,000 – Flooring (stairwells)
$200,000 – Furniture replacement
$200,000 – Painting
$200,000 – Paving
$200,000 – Lighting
$100,000 – Window washing
$50,000 – Pressure washing
Total for 2028: $17.5 million
