Pangburn has goals of building a new high school along with its new gym, forming an L shape of classrooms around the sunken arena floor. If all goes as planned, the project will be constructed in two phases, according to Superintendent Jerrod Williams, who presented the decision to the public on Tuesday night at the Performing Arts Center–another new, state-of-the-art building on campus that opened to students last October.
A Bald Knob based construction company in charge of the $4.7 million project has a goal of completing Phase 1, which is a 28,000 square foot gym connected to 13,000 feet of classroom and restroom space, this coming February. “We should have the arena portion ready Feb. 1 and by Feb. 28 we should have the structure under wraps,” Williams said.
An additional 30,000 square feet of classroom space, with the go-ahead of the state, will begin construction in May. “Approximately May 1 we will find out from the state if we are funded for Phase 2 of the high school. It will be a two-story structure that will form the second side of the L around the arena,” Williams said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed the state will go ahead and pass Phase 2. If not, the board will have to re-examine the situation the following year.”
The state is paying $1 million for the Phase 1 classroom but an additional cost of $200,000 was recently added for the visitors’ 600-seat section and a scoreboard.
Williams said the new gym made more financial sense than refurbishing the old Tiger Den. “Our current gym was built in 1978 as a Community Center in an effort by legislators and the Superintendent at that time,” said Williams. “Since it was built out of pre-cast concrete walls the Arkansas Board of Education started in the fall of 2008 having a feasibility study done on the remodeling and enlargement of the current gym. Because the method of construction being out of pre-cast panels, two different proposals came about at that time from the architect. The costs were astronomical and the board decided not to sink that kind of money into a 32-year old (at time of meeting) building was just not feasible.”
Williams continued, “Upon the hiring of a new architect firm and the district realigning its facility plan with the state, the state came along and funded a classroom addition to Pangburn. With that addition, the board charged the architect with a cost effective design of putting classrooms with a new arena and the possibility of expansion. Upon looking at our assessment and borrowing power, it was discussed and advised by our fiscal agent to go forth with refinancing of bonds to fund a new arena instead of remodeling our current facility.”
Williams believes the new arena will help the community by drawing tournaments. “We looked at the AAA guidelines for schools of our size hosting tournaments, which would have a huge economic impact on our town with visitors. The new gym will give our students more possibilities for events and stimulate the local economy.” The structure will seat 1,200 initially with the capability of expanding up to 1,500 seats.
Next season, the facility will host the Greers Ferry Lake Classic and 2A-2 District Tournament, which includes Quitman, Bradford, Cedar Ridge, Cotter, Salem and White County Central. By 2012, Pangburn’s coaches plan to start an annual invitational tournament.
Pangburn’s school board and staff members looked at several area facilities before deciding on a plan for their own. “Right now the trend is to do a top loading gym, that’s what most of the new gyms are. We did facility tours with our staff and visited many schools in our area to decide what we liked and didn’t like and what met the needs of our students and our community. We also tried to do a very cost effective design. The board wanted fixed seating for the home side so that way the seating will all be chair back and can’t be moved. Our coaches wanted movable seats on the visitors’ side so we can do cross-courts (two running parallel). A goal of our athletic department is to hold team camps. With our current gym and new arena, we will have the possibility of having four courts that are temperature controlled,” Williams said.
One intriguing feature of the new facility involves the restrooms, which are going to be built accessible from both sides, meaning they can be used for school during the day, then locked from that side and opened for the people in the gym to use at night.
The new gym and possibilities surrounding it should give the town a spark. “I think it will bring a new excitement to Pangburn,” said Williams. “I know the coaches are very excited, our student body is excited. Anytime you have new facilities it brings in more people to not only view the facilities but also watch the athletic events. I think it will be win, win for everyone.”
Although Pangburn is the same size or larger than some schools that play other sports such as football and volleyball, Williams said the school’s goal is to get better at the activities in which it already competes. “The goal of our current administration is to not add as many new athletic programs but do what we do and do it the best that we possibly can. We did add wrestling last year and are currently looking for someone to take over the program. We added a basketball assistant last year [Scott Hoffman] but we didn’t just hire a coach, but someone that teaches. Their first priority is teaching and second in the athletic department. We are trying to do everything we can to add to our current athletic programs instead of adding additional ones.”
The Tigers have a huge new addition in the making and even more possibilities on the horizon.
