IF YOU GO
* What: Chickamauga City Schools board work session and community meeting on facilities at Gordon Lee High School * When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 * Where: Gordon Lee High School gym
CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- The three oldest, 1930s-era brick buildings on the stately, tree-lined Gordon Lee High School campus might be torn down and replaced with new buildings, a state official said.
Replacing the buildings is what the school board proposed in a state-mandated, five-year facilities plan that the board approved at its May 11 meeting, said Tony Cook, the Georgia Department of Education facilities consultant for 32 school systems in Northwest Georgia, including Chickamauga City Schools.
"Their plan says at this point, that's what they are considering," Cook said, adding, "There is a way these buildings can be replaced to look pretty much like the current ones do."
It was not immediately clear which three buildings on the high school's 14-acre campus may be in line for replacement. School officials did not respond this week to requests for specific details.
According to Walker County tax records, the only structures on campus built in the 1930s are the three buildings -- a two-story main building connected to one-story wings on each side -- that comprise the high school's main building. But the high school's website says the main building and the Olive Lee and Tom Lee buildings, separate brick structures that flank the main building, all were built in 1930.
School officials chose to replace three buildings, Cook said, over repairing them or completely gutting them and replacing the interiors of the buildings, which he said were first occupied in 1933.
"[Gutting the buildings] was a problem for Chickamauga, because of the age of the buildings," Cook said. "You've still got a 1933 structure, basically. There are a lot of code changes -- you can imagine -- since 1933 for buildings. To try to take those buildings and make them meet the current standards was very costly."
Superintendent Melody Day explained why she's been reluctant to discuss the potential school renovation in an email exchange that's posted on the Chickamauga City Schools' website.
"As you can imagine, it is a very sensitive topic," Day said in the email. "I purposely want to wait until after our seniors graduate on May 29th so as not to distract from their end-of-the-year activities."
The school board will hold a June 2 meeting to get community input on the proposal, which isn't final.
Gordon Lee High School"At this point in time, we are still gathering info which we will present on [June 2]," Day said Wednesday via email. "I really only have info on options available to us, and we are working to determine costs of each option in an effort to make as informed a decision as possible."
State officials said another reason that Chickamauga City Schools officials may opt to replace the old buildings is because the state would pick up the largest portion of the tab for that option. That's because the school system qualifies for the state's "low-wealth, project-specific funding" because of the district's relatively low special purpose local option sales tax wealth compared to other districts statewide.
"Cost-wise, that's why they started looking at the [building replacement] option," Cook said. "That made the ... option really attractive to them, because they could get new buildings and then got a lot more state assistance than they typically would have otherwise."
It's too early to tell how much expense the state might pick up.
"Unfortunately, there is no way to nail that number down precisely because it depends on the conditions that exist at the time an application is made for a specific project," Georgia Department of Education spokesman Matt Cardoza said in an email.
It can be difficult for communities to let go of "beautiful, old structures" that have been around for a long time, Cook said.
"I think that's the thing Chickamauga is going to have to work with their community about," he said.
But Calhoun City Schools, a comparable school district about 40 miles away in Gordon County, recently decided its historic high school was too old to fix up, Cook said. So the district built a new high school that opened in 2013 that looks like the old building on the outside, he said, "then you walk in the door and you've got a totally modern facility."
"If you go down and look at that building, you'll be amazed," Cook said.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.