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Neshoba Central accepts $4 million bid for new fine arts building

Image of New NCHS Fine Arts Drawing

The new Neshoba Central Fine Arts building will be “everything one could possibly dream of,” according to Band Director Daniel Wade.

The Neshoba County School Board accepted a $4 million bid for the new building, which will be constructed where the old high school once stood.

Burks-Mordecai Builders, Inc. of Columbus was awarded the contract.  PryorMorrow is the architect.

The Neshoba Central Fine Arts building will house band and chorus.

The building was designed for future expansion to include a performing arts center, said Superintendent of Education Lundy Brantley.

The band and chorus directors helped design the new building.

The projected completion date is late August 2023, but Brantley feels it might be closer to late December 2023.

The 13,500-square-foot building will feature both large and small band halls, a chorus hall, offices, equipment storage, uniform storage and restrooms.

“It will provide ample rooms for our band to have sessions and be able to distance, if necessary,” Dr. Brantley said. “Chorus will have a nice place designed just for them to distance and have the things they need to be successful. The color guard can also practice there and not have to use other facilities.”

The new building fits well with Neshoba Central’s strategic plan in that “our facilities are state of the art, 21st Century buildings,” Dr. Brantley said.

One of the biggest things in the fine arts building is a large, roll door in the back for band students to take out the larger, roll out instruments, he said.

“That will be one of the nice features that we were able to include in the building.”

 

Neshoba Central High School Principal Jason Gentry said they “are very excited about the commitment Dr. Brantley and the school board has made with the addition of the fine arts facility to our campus.”
 He said students and staff deserve a facility that represents Neshoba Central and the commitment it has to the band and chorus programs.

“Neshoba Central High School has a long and great history of success in the realm of performing arts,” Gentry said. “Year after year, our Big Blue Marching Band has rated superior in both state and regional competitions at the highest level. Also, our school chorus is growing year by year and performs yearly at the state level in competitions.

“Moving forward, this addition will help our school district continue to provide high-quality in a great atmosphere."

The recently added sod on the building site will be rolled up and placed in other areas on campus, such as near the old field house, on a hill by the car rider line and near the elementary auditorium.

“The sod is not going to waste,” Brantley said. “I love grass and I like it to look good. We didn’t know how things were going to turn out when the old high school was demolished. We didn’t want it to look like a dirt pit, so we rolled out the sod.”

Wade is overly excited for the kids, alumni and the community.

“The fine arts building is going to be a big deal,” he said. “It’s kind of like Christmas morning and you’re opening presents. It’s awesome.”

He is excited for the students to have so much more room to practice in along with plenty of storage space.

 “It’s state-of-the art and something we will be really proud of,” he said. “We will have one of the best band halls in the state. So many have come through the Neshoba Central Band Program and remain a part of our family.”

The new facility and all its amenities “are everything one could possibly dream of,” Wade said.

Chorus Director Richard Boykin shared Wade’s excitement not only for the band but for the chorus as well.

Boykin teaches both middle and high school chorus. The groups meet in different places on campus.

“This will put the chorus in one place in a room just for them,” he said. “The students don’t know a lot about it yet as they haven’t seen the plans. They are going to be very excited just to have their own home.”

There will be space for the chorus library which is now housed in the old cafeteria kitchen.

“It includes all the music we have bought through the years,” he said, noting that the band has a huge library as well.

The Neshoba Central Fine Arts Building will be paid for from the third round of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds which address the impact of COVID-19 on schools. The funds are part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed by Congress.

Dr. Brantley said the money had to be used to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID.

The present band hall will be converted into a sports training facility.

“We are going to move the weight room there,” Brantley said. “The one we have right now is miniature. This will be about four times the size of what we have now, allowing athletes to social distance.”

 

-Story by Debbie Burt Myers