There was only one set of shovels, but the ground that was broken in front of White Hall High School on Tuesday morning represented six projects and a bond issuance of $26.5 million to pay for them.
School officials, White Hall political figures and contractors turned the ceremonial dirt, as choir and band students -- those who will benefit from one of the biggest project -- stood behind them.
Superintendent Doug Dorris said it's one of the largest improvement projects the district has embarked on in more than a decade and will help modernize the school facilities in a number of ways.
The Fine Arts Building, which will be built on the high school campus, will house those band and choir students, a few of whom happily took the shovels and donned hard hats for their own photos after the grownups had walked away.
The building will also have an auditorium that will seat 1,250 people -- something the district does not have now.
There's also a multipurpose building that is under construction and that will be used, as its name suggests, in a variety of ways, including for athletes and band members.
At each of the four elementary schools, Dorris said, there will be Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved safety shelters built where students and faculty members can go in case of an emergency, such as a tornado. The shelters range in size from 3,000 square feet to 3,400 square feet and can accommodate between 400 and 700 people. Those structures can also be used by the general public after school hours, Dorris said.
The safety shelters are 24 feet high and have 4-inch thick walls of reinforced concrete with 6-inch slabs of concrete as a roof. Dorris said districts are not required to have those, but having them in White Hall dovetailed with the need for more classroom space, which is what they will be used for most of the time.
At the middle school, he said, all of the heating and air-conditioning units will be replaced, and a metal covering will be added outside of the middle school to give students a pavilion of sorts when they are outside.
One other item on the wish list will also be addressed, that being to bring the JROTC students back to campus. Currently, they use space at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, but once the construction and improvements are completed, they should be able to move into the old band room, Dorris said.
Another deficiency that one of the projects will address is that all athletes will have a place to change clothes. Years ago, when there were far fewer team sports, the district had enough space for athletes to change. Now, though, with so many sports, some athletes, such as the soccer players, have to change clothes in their cars or in space that's shared with members of the opposite sex.
"It wasn't a healthy environment," Dorris said. "This will allow them to have somewhere to go."
Dorris said some of the smaller projects will be done by July 1, but the Fine Arts Building may not be ready for two years, depending on the weather.
He said once the work is completed, he believes the improvements will entice more students to come to White Hall.
"Something new attracts people to a district," he said. "We're counting on that."
The work is being done thanks to a 2.9-mill increase that was approved by voters in January.
Dorris said issuance of the bonds for the projects "couldn't have happened at a better time," adding that the low interest rates had allowed the district to get far more for its money than officials expected.
Nabholz Construction is the general contractor for the projects.