By Gary Lloyd
Trussville City Schools and city officials on Monday reviewed a plan that would build two elementary schools in Trussville — one in Magnolia Place and another at the old high school and middle school building in the Cahaba Project.
Both community schools would have the capacity to accommodate 500 students but would house about 400 students. Construction, included equipment and other necessary work and materials to move students in, would cost about $9 million per school.
This plan could be voted on at a Trussville City Board of Education meeting May 20 at 6 p.m
. at the Central Office.
The Trussville City Council sent a letter to Trussville City Board of Education members last week, supporting a school being located at the former New Deal era high school and middle school in the Cahaba Project.
“It is our belief that maintaining a school in the Cahaba Project is vital not only for the school system but the City as well,” the letter says. “The school site in the Project has been operating since the 1930s and it is very important for Trussville that children continue to be educated there.”
One of two community schools could be located at the old high school and middle school in the Cahaba Project in Trussville.
file photo by Gary Lloyd
The letter goes on to say that if at some point the Cahaba Project site is no longer viable for a school, “you would transfer it to the City and not tear down the original 1930s structure.”
The school in the Cahaba Project would house 410 students, while the Magnolia Place site would house 388. The basement and top floor of the school on Parkway Drive would be closed off, and the original entrance would be used as an entrance for bus riders.
Music classes and computer labs could be located in the historic building, and the library and eighth-grade wing built in 2001 would be preserved as well. New classrooms would be built and linked to the original building.
Under this plan, Jack Wood Stadium would be demolished once the new stadium behind Trussville Civic Center is built, and the track at Jack Wood Stadium would shrink so that new structures could be built. The area inside the track could be a playground or community area outlined with hedges.
“I think it’s beautiful,” said Trussville Historical Society President Donnette Plant.
Michael Brady Inc. Vice President Bill Steverson, who presented renderings to school and city officials, said both schools would be built “apples to apples.” School board member Sid McNeal said the two renderings “accomplishes that.”
Steverson said the Magnolia Place site would be built far enough from a nearby Birmingham landfill that it’s not an issue for students. He said the heavily wooded area around the site would serve as a “buffer.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
