Warren County High School will soon see a major facility upgrade with the replacement of the bleachers in the school’s gymnasium.
The School Board approved the estimated $597,000 upgrade. Warren County Schools Communications Coordinator Sarah Cantrell said the bleachers are over 30 years old, and the project was long overdue.
“There has just been lots of natural wear and tear,” Cantrell said. ” So, it’s time. I mean, we’ve refurbished, we’ve made repairs, but we’ve hit a point where it’s much more efficient to just plan and start the process to get them replaced.”
Cantrell said the new bleachers will closely mirror the current setup, maintaining the same size and seating capacity of approximately 2,000 people. Cantrell said it will be a major undertaking to install the new bleachers, but the school is targeting October as a completion date.
“So, from what I understand, it will be a pretty major process because it’s such a large-scale project with the bleachers actually being so big,” Cantrell said. “So, they will deconstruct those, tear those down, move those out, and then they will move forward once the demo and all that’s pulled out, with installing the new set.”
Cantrell said the school system felt great about the price of the project.
“For this fiscal year, this budget year, the board actually set aside $10 million in our budget for capital projects,” Cantrell said. “So, this was definitely at the forefront for the school district to have this included in that $10 million capital project line, and so it will be coming out of that.”
Cantrell said the upgrade will enhance the overall experience for students, athletes, and visitors alike.
“I think everybody’s just excited to see the before and after, and just how it will play into the quality of the experience for anybody who visits the gymnasium,” Cantrell said.