Construction Superin-tendent Sandy Jack Brown gave an update on the progress of the campus during a recent meeting of the Centre Lions Club. Brown works for Hoar Construction of Birmingham.
A native of Defuniak Springs, Fla., Brown has worked across the country and the southeast. Before he began the Gadsden State project, Brown did some work at Northeast Community College in Rainsville.
It was the summer of 2006, Brown said, when site work began on the Gadsden State campus, on Cedar Bluff Road in Centre. Around $900,000 was budgeted and the actual cost was around $906,000. The project was completed in November of that year.
“Then we had a delay for the design so the project went dormant,” said Brown. “On May 21, we started Phase Two, the academic building. That is the one you see that looks almost complete and it is about 75 to 80 percent complete. We’ve had an above ceiling inspection you have to have before you can put your ceiling tile in. So we are coming right along. In fact, we started up the heat and air today, which is a major step. The budget for that was $6 million and it came in at $6,290,000 so that is pretty close for a project that size.”
The academic building, Brown said, is 38,000 square feet. The two-story brick structure with split face block and standing seam metal roof will have classrooms, faculty offices, science and nursing labs, a library, a book store, administration and workforce development offices and a nursing lab.
“The completion date is June 10,” said Brown. “And I think we are going to beat that by a couple of weeks. Those of you who have been by there will see we are starting our DOT work on Highway 9. We are doing a turning lane, which we just started that this morning, so I think we’re good to go. Then once we get that done, they will come in and put the binder down, which is the base coat for the paving on the remainder of the project and then we will come back with a finish coat and pave that which will be most of the ball park road.”
The projected budget for the arena, Brown said, is $11 million. The actual contract to date is $11,588,000.
“That is not too far off,” said Brown. “The building is 69,107 square feet. It seats 2,000 people. It has seats of pre-cast concrete. It has offices in it, it has meeting rooms, food prep facilities, basketball and volleyball courts, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and it will also have the offices of the Chamber of Commerce. The completion date on that is Oct. 31 of this year. So we will have one project that will be complete June 10 and another one Oct. 31.”
The performing arts building, Brown said, is in the design phase and is approximately 55 percent complete.
At this point, Brown reported, the project is coming in ahead of schedule. He urged anyone who wishes to tour the facility to contact him ahead of time and he will make the arrangements.
“It’s a great addition to this community,” said Brown. “I think that all of you will be proud. We have good contractors, and they are doing us a good job. It is a nice facility. I am proud to be a part of this.”
Lions Club President Keith Baldwin presented Lion Joyce Allen with a special pin for donating $25 or more toward Knights of the Blind.
Don Price, Pancake Day chairman for 2008, reported total receipts of $12,158.80 from this year’s event.
President Baldwin expressed his appreciation to Price and others who made Pancake Day a success.
“There are three men I want to recognize,” said Baldwin. “John Ellis, Paul Foster and Ralph Bishop. Without them, Pancake Day wouldn’t have happened. Those three individuals worked diligently. Their sales were a very significant part of this total. If we all worked as hard as they did, we probably could have tripled it.
In other business, the club appointed Lions Bruce Beckwith, Harold Trammell and Vince Studdard to the nominating committee
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