The Port Arthur News
November 17, 2007 07:25 pm
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By Mary Meaux
The News staff writer
Tall girders rise up from what once was a wooded area giving motorists a peek into the future of Port Arthur ISD.
Construction on the new Memorial High School is progressing, and now, with the voters approval of a $189.5 million bond package, the school will be whole. A previous bond passed by voters got construction on the way but money was lost when school board members decided to move the location of the high school to its current site and later, move the location back to its home on Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams Drive.
The recently passed bond will add funding for an auditorium, extra science labs and a Career and Technology Education building thus creating a complete campus.
Mark Porterie, executive assistant to the superintendent, said the new auditorium, science labs and CATE Building are scheduled to be completed during the same time as the new high school.
“There may be some delay by a few weeks or months since they are starting later, but ALLCO should be able to complete the work around June 2009,” he said.
The new high school will include a new band hall, auditorium, commons area, junior varsity football field, field house, science labs, library, concession buildings, band practice fields, baseball field, softball field, track and field events, two gymnasiums, etc. to meet the needs of the population of Port Arthur, Porterie added.
The CATE facility will offer similar courses what the current Stilwell Technical Center offers such as cosmetology, automotive technology, drafting, computer information systems and CISCO certification and medical programs.
Mary Jean George, co-chairperson of the Capital Improvement Committee, is excited about the passing of the bonds package.
“I look forward to being able to finish the high school,” she said. “And to complete all of the projects, the new elementary schools, repairs and renovations to the schools that are so desperately needed.”
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