Wayne County Outlook

Groundbreaking held for new middle school
Melodie Phelps
News Editor

The first shovels of dirt were moved Wednesday morning at the site of

the new A.J. Lloyd Middle School on the Wayne County campus. An official

groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of construction at the

new facility.

A group of fourth and fifth grade students were gathered at the site of

the new school, which will be located on property adjacent to the football

field near Turner Intermediate School. This is the first group of students

that will attend classes in the new middle school.

Superintendent John Dalton pointed out the group of students to

architects and construction officials who attended the groundbreaking,

noting, ³This is the group of students you are building this school

for...This is your first group of customers.²

Dalton expressed appreciation to all those who have assisted with this

important project. He told the architectural and construction crews he

wanted to stress the importance of building the very best facility possible

to meet the needs of the students.

Dalton recognized State Representative Ken Upchurch, who played an

important role in securing state funding for the new school.

Upchurch, who is a graduate of Wayne County High School, said he was

happy to see this project moving forward.

³It¹s been something that has been needed here in the system for quite

some time,² said Upchurch. ³I am proud to be able to help with this project

and I am proud to be a part of it.²

Dalton and Upchurch were joined by several project officials, as well as

Middle School Principal Philip Burton and members of the school board as the

first shovels of dirt were thrown. Fourth graders Jessie Godsey and Heather

Mansfield and fifth graders Andrew Dodd and Presley Keith, representing the

first classes the new school, also donned hard hats and helped break ground.

Burton said that he and his staff are excited at the prospect of moving

into the new state-of-the-art facility. Burton also noted that he was

pleased to see the fourth and fifth grade students participating in the

ceremony.

³It will be so good to get into one building,² said Burton. ³It will be

a safe place for students and it will be a place that is very progressive as

far as technology.²

Tommy Gumm, president of Alliance Corporation, who serves as the

construction manager, said a lot of time has been invested in the

functionality and flow of the building. The new facility will be in the

forefront as far as technology, compared to schools across the state.

³There won¹t be a lot of frills, but there will be some very nice things

like classroom space,² he said. ³We¹ve had a lot of good local input into

this project.²

Gumm noted that he was pleased to be returning to Wayne County, since

his company was involved in the construction of the high school and the Area

Technology Center.

³We are proud to be back working on this new project,² said Gumm. ³We

enjoy working with these folks. John Dalton and his staff are very

professional.²

³We have a good working relationship with the Alliance Corporation. they

have always delivered high quality services through their construction

expertise in each project we have undertaken,² said Wayne County School

Administrator Wayne Roberts. ³They know our primary goal is to build a

facility that meets students¹ needs the best.²

Tim Geegan, the project manager with Alliance Corporation, noted that

early site work for the new school will begin this week, which is scheduled

for completion in December 2006. It is scheduled to open for classes in the

2007-2008 school year.

The project has been broken up into two phases, with the early site

preparation work slated for this summer. Geegan noted this summer there will

be several changes made to the existing campus, as construction officials

work to improve access to the area. This includes relocation of playgrounds

and a construction of a new road that will run behind the vocational school.

Lucas Schwering Architects designed the 70,000 square foot school.

Classrooms will be located on two floors on two floors in a cross path

layout, giving the building a strong presence on the site.

Mike Sparkman, architect for the project, noted that Wednesday was a

perfect day to break ground, and he was also impressed by the presence of

students at the ceremony.

³We usually don¹t get to see the students who will use the school,² said

Sparkman. ³That¹s kind of unique.²

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