HOPKINS CO., KY (WFIE) -
This spring, the Hopkins County Board of Education declared a state of emergency because of settlement issues at the construction site of the new Career and Tech Center.
Now school officials have decided to move forward with renovations at the current site.
The board says they were given a handful of options, one that even included tearing down the building, and starting all over. But after getting expert opinions, they've decided this is their location.
Construction was stopped last December after just 50% of the Tech Center was completed, and now the board is ready to get work started again.
"We've done our due diligence I think. We've done the research, talked to the experts, and it's nice to have a plan," said assistant superintendent Steve Gilliam.
That plan includes adding additional stabilization in the way of micropiles deep below the surface. Gilliam says this was the best option because it eliminates the concern for future settlement of the building.
"Once the building is founded to the bedrock what the soil does won't matter. The building will not move because it'll be on the rock," Gilliam said.
Other options included abandoning the current site, but Gilliam says there's too many negative factors there.
"One of those would be that we would have to start the process all over again from the very beginning and there would be considerable delays. Then second, the money that we've already sunk into that site and that building would basically just be lost," Gilliam said.
Officials say the total construction cost for stabilization and remediation of the site should cost roughly $5 million, which they plan to recover through bonds.
"We still believe it's an excellent site for visibility. It is equally distanced between our two high schools for our students for transportation purposes and we feel very confident now that we have a solution that is going to put us back on track," said superintendent James Stevens.
School officials expect this new Tech Center to now be completed by the 2013-14 school year.
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