The renovated Andalusia High School stadium will be ready for the 2018 football season, when the Bulldogs will play on artificial turf.
Brian Ray of Wyatt Sasser Construction assured board of education members Monday that if they decided to move on with artificial turf and an entrance plaza, he could be ready for football season.
“We cannot wait any longer,” he said.
The company began the renovations to the stadium and the AHS auditorium with a base bid, leaving “extras” to be negotiated. The board initially did not include the turf and plaza in case cost overruns drove the overall cost of the project up.
But portions of the project have been redesigned to contain costs. The plaza originally was designed at 16,300 square feet, Ray said. But a modified design by the board’s architect scaled it down to 12,260 square feet.
The board also found a way for the city to purchase artificial turf from Shaw Industries, which is a manufacturer, and the board will pay the city.
“This has already been approved by the state Department of Education,” Superintendent Ted Watson said.
Watson said the top-of-the-line turf, originally expected to cost $700,000, can be purchased and installed for $600,000.
Ray said new drainage is currently being installed on the football field, and the existing track is being torn up.
“I believe we can be ready for them to install by May, so we should have a turf field down by mid-June,” Ray said. “I told Coach (Trent) Taylor, we should be out of his way by July.”
Ray said PowerSouth will remove the old light poles next week, and Musgrove Lighting will set new polls the first week of April.
The Lindsey Bridge Road sidewalk project is officially complete, Jeremy McMath of Civil Southeast Engineering told the Andalusia City Council this week. The final inspection was held Thursday.
The city received a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant in 2015 for the project, which was bid and begun in 2017. Floore Industrial Contractors, Inc. of Moss Point, Miss., was the low bidder at $463,750.
McMath said the company did “a great job of getting this project completed on time and within budget.”
Construction costs were approximately $45,000, McMath said, adding that the city’s portion of the project is $150,000.
The project installed sidewalks from Maple Street off Lindsey Bridge Road to Stanley Avenue, and from there to Johnson Park. In addition, drainage was improved at the entrance to Johnson Park, and at several points on Lindsey Bridge Road, and a parking area near the Gitty-Up-N-Go on Lindsey Bridge Road was paved.
The council also has looked at a sidewalk project to complement work being done at Andalusia High School, but has not agreed to seek funding for it.
Councilman Ralph Wells said the sidewalk has already gotten great use by people taking advantage of a safe place to walk for exercise.
There’s a new firefighter in the Andalusia Fire Department and his face might be familiar to Andalusia residents
Tyler Wilson is a 2004 graduate of Andalusia High School and somewhat of a star. After high school, Wilson played baseball for the Atlanta Braves and the Pensacola Pelicans as a pitcher.
“I got drafted by the braves in 2004 or 2005,” Wilson said.
“I played for them until about 2009 and then I played for the Pelicans from 2010-2011.”
After that, Wilson spent a lot of time coaching for Andalusia for baseball and football.
Wilson started working for the fire department in January.
“I did a lot of research into the department before I actually applied,” he said.
“I talked to a lot of guys from here and they gave me solid advice.”
Wilson said that baseball and firefighting have one similarity.
“There’s a team mentality in firefighting that is similar to what I had when I was a part of a baseball team.”
Within the first two hours of his first day on the job, there were two structure fires, back-to-back.
Within four of Wilson’s shifts, there were three structure fires.
“I earned the nickname ‘Black Cloud’ for a little while,” Wilson joked.
Despite all of that, Wilson said he looks forward to working at the fire department and loves the work he does.
“This is honestly the best job I’ve ever had,” Wilson said.
“It’s been a perfect fit for me.”
The City of Andalusia will be well represented in next week’s Alabama Parks and Recreation Associations All-Star basketball state tournament in Trussville.
Andalusia’s 8U and 10U All-Stars showed up and showed out at last week’s district tournaments to earn spots in the 2018 state tournament.
Both teams finished in the first place at district in their respective age groups.
The state tournaments will be held at number of locations in Trussville from March 9-11.
Locations will be Trussville Civic Center, Trussville High School, Trussville Middle School, Cherokee Gym, Cahaba Elementary School, Magnolia Elementary School, Athletic Center, First Baptist Church of Trussville, Clay-Chalkville High School and Clay-Chalkville Middle School.
Game times and which gyms will host which age groups has not yet been determined.
Admission will be $5 per day Read More>
Local leaders and members of the South Alabama Regional Airport Authority have two prospects interested in the airport’s twin hangars.
Jacob Morgan of the Covington County Economic Development Commission said his organization hosted a prospect last Friday who is looking to expand and possibly start a pilot training program.
“This is legitimate,” Morgan said. “These people are proven, and they’re doing a good job.
“Our infrastructure really impressed them. Hopefully, we will hear some more news about this soon. It could be a great thing, and definitely change this airport for the good.”
The prospects looked at the community college, airport facilities, and joined local political leaders for lunch.
CCEDC’s executive director, Rick Clifton, has a follow-up meeting with the company at the national Helio Expo this week, Morgan said.
Meanwhile, Jed Blackwell, director of South Alabama Regional Airport, said a second company which previously has shown interest in the twin hangars, will be on site this Friday to go through the facility and ensure it meets federal fire code requirements for government aircraft. The prospect is interested in leasing the facility for 18 months, Blackwell said.
The twin hangars were built in the early mid-2000s to house C130s for a company that planned to do work here. However, the government contract work never materialized, and the airport authority has had a number of short-term tenants since then.
At present, the hangars are not leased, which means the debt on the building – held separately by Covington County, the City of Andalusia and the City of Opp – is being paid by taxpayers. Under an agreement SARA has with those three entities, 5 percent of lease payments goes into a maintenance fund at the airport. With no rent coming in for the facility, those maintenance funds are being quickly depleted.