$12.5 million Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School project on target

photo Construction workers stand on scaffolding to lay bricks as a new gym is constructed Wednesday at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School in Fort Oglethorpe.
Arkansas-Georgia Live Blog

Moving right along.

That sums up $12.5 million worth of renovations and construction under way at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School.

"It's been a very straightforward construction project, which is the way we like projects," said architect Ray Boaz, a partner in DH&W Architects.

Much of the work is already done.

Since last summer break, when construction began, workers have repainted hallways and installed a new fire sprinkler system, ceiling tile, brighter fluorescent lighting, fiber-optic cabling, a surveillance system, a football field concession stand and a digital scoreboard capable of showing video.

Summer break begins soon.

When students return next fall, a new school parking lot on Battlefield Parkway will be complete, Boaz said. The high school's cafeteria and media center also will be upgraded this summer, Catoosa County Schools Director of Operations Doug Suits said, including more cafeteria seating and a new media center circulation desk.

"It's really moving right along," Suits said of the work. "We're hoping this summer we can pick up the pace a little bit."

A Dec. 1 opening is scheduled for the centerpiece of the project -- a 53,000-square-foot gymnasium being built next to the existing gym, which will be demoted to "auxiliary gym" status.

"The gymnasium is dried in -- it has a roof on it," Boaz said. "Mid- to late July, the gym floor is going in."

Funding for the work comes from a 1 cent education special purpose local option sales tax that voters approved in 2011.

"It's really a revitalization of that campus," Catoosa County Schools spokeswoman Marissa Brower said.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6651.

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