Baldwin County School Construction

By Debbie Williams Reporter

The pressure is on to complete construction on several new school buildings in Baldwin County. Baldwin County School Construction

Published: Thu, July 17, 2008 - 6:59 pm

Debbie Williams

We are less than a month away from the start of another school year and as the clock ticks down on summer vacation in Baldwin County, the pressure is on to complete construction on several new school buildings.
"It's been a very, very, very busy summer in Baldwin County for Baldwin County Public Schools," says school system spokesman, Terry Wilhite.
There are more than 140 million dollars worth of school projects dotting the county. "More than one point four million square feet of new educational space is either on the drawing board or in progress right now," he says.
In Foley, the elementary and middle schools are on schedule and slated to open during the Christmas break.
Crews working on Spanish Fort Middle School are almost finished but time is running out. "The pressure is on and the clocks ticking so we have certainly lit a fire under some contractors and to their credit they've responded in grand style so things are shaping up," says Wilhite.
Of all the construction projects going on in Baldwin County, it's Robertsdale Elementary that is causing the most concern. The contractor says it will be ready by August 6th, but by the looks of things that might not be the case.
"That's the million dollar question." Principal Rusty Downey says the new school is a long time coming. "We have approximately eleven different facilities on this campus that our boys and girls are in so it will be nice when we move into the new school we'll have everyone under one roof."
With classes starting in three weeks, the staff is getting ready for anything. "We were hoping to be ready to move in even by this time but due to some construction issues it's been backed up a little bit and so as of right now we're anticipating and hoping to have boys and girls in the new building but we have plans to go into our existing building for a week or two if we need," says Downey.
It may take a little longer than they hoped, but folks in Robertsdale say getting a new school is worth the wait.