Atlanta high schools will get two new athletic field houses this year, with plans to build six more in the next few years.
The school board approved spending up to $1,190,800 to build two field houses, one at Douglass High School and one to serve students who attend the all-girl Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy and the all-boys The B.E.S.T. Academy.
Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of March, or earlier, and take about eight months to complete.
The projects are part of a larger effort to upgrade athletic facilities throughout the district.
Carver and South Atlanta high schools will get new field houses next year. Washington and Maynard Jackson high schools will get new field houses in 2021. Therrell and Mays high schools will get new field houses in 2022.
The estimated budget for building new field houses and related work at high schools is roughly $8.1 million, according to the district's construction budget.
The projects will be paid for using money from the district's one-penny sales tax.
The district previously spent $8 million to transform the former Walden Middle School site into an athletic complex, including a practice football field, for use by Grady High School. The work including building a field house. The athletic complex, which boasts views of Atlanta's skyline, opened last fall.
In 2013, the district built a field house for North Atlanta High School.
The new field houses will include restrooms, an area to sell concessions and storage room. Schools will continue to use the locker rooms in their existing gyms, according to Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Seth Coleman.
The construction contract for the Douglass, Coretta Scott King and B.E.S.T. field house projects was awarded to C.D. Moody Construction Co.
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