GAINESVILLE - Gainesville school officials say plans are underway for construction of a new building for Enota Elementary School on the current school site.
In a letter dated Friday and addressed to Enota families, Gainesville Schools Superintendent Wanda Creel and Enota Principal Wesley Roach said, "While the possibility of bringing renovations to the current Enota school building has been a serious consideration, we have learned that to do so would be more expensive than building a new school. Not only is it more cost effective to build a new building, but it will also ensure that our students at Enota have access to state of the art technology and other amenities."
Therefore, they added, plans are being made for the construction of a new Enota school bulding.
"We have had the opportunity to meet with the Enota School Governance Council to share with them and solicit from them ideas about how to best move forward with this project."
Creel and Roach say they are in the early stages of planning for the project, but want the "Enota family" to know that the new building will be built in a way that "preserves the unique qualities of our current building," while retaining the “neighborhood school” feel that Enota currently enjoys.
Plans call for the work on the new complex to begin at the end of the current school year and school officials say they are working on plans for a temporary Enota site for the 2016-2017 school year.
The construction will be paid for with ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds. An extension of the tax was approved in a referendum last month.
The school has been in the same location on Enota Avenue since it was established in 1954. The school system replaced Fair Street School in a similar fashion several years ago - tearing down the old structure and replacing it with a new one on the same site.
See below for the full text of the letter from Dr. Creel and Roach, which is also included in this week's school system newsletter.
December 18, 2015
Dear Enota Family:
As you probably know, our community recently passed a renewal of the ESPLOST, which provides funding for capital projects such as renovations or construction of schools. We are excited about what this funding will mean for our school district, and specifically for Enota. There have been discussions about how these funds could be used to bring needed improvements to Enota.
While the possibility of bringing renovations to the current Enota school building has been a serious consideration, we have learned that to do so would be more expensive than building a new school. Not only is it more cost effective to build a new building, but it will also ensure that our students at Enota have access to state of the art technology and other amenities. Therefore, we are happy to inform our Enota family that we are making preparations for the construction of a new Enota school building on the current school site.
We have had the opportunity to meet with the Enota School Governance Council to share with them and solicit from them ideas about how to best move forward with this project. We are in the early stages of planning for this construction project, but we want to be sure to communicate with our Enota family what is currently known.
The following is a summary of what is currently known:
- The new building will be built in a way that preserves the unique qualities of our current building. We want to make sure that the “neighborhood school” feel that Enota currently enjoys will also be felt in our new building.
- We will look for ways to connect the old with the new. For example, the beautiful wooden doors at the front of our school are a hallmark of our school. We will find a way to preserve and use these doors in the new building.
- The new building will be designed in a way that fosters the warm, welcoming feeling that people often associate with our school.
- The architect will be charged with designing a building that honors the heritage and the tradition of our school and our community.
- Our school will finally have a stage for our talented student performers!
- The plan is to begin work on this project immediately at the end of this current school year.
- The district is working on plans for a temporary Enota site for the 2016-2017 school year. This will be our “growing pains” year. But, the builders tell us that we should begin the 2017-2018 school year in our brand new home!
There are other details that are still to be decided. The district will assemble a committee to help provide input to the decisions to be made as we move forward with this project.
Some have had questions about how the plans for our new school building may be impacted by the recently discussed road realignment proposal near Enota. Representatives from our district office have been in communication with the city’s planning department about the road realignment proposal. What we have been told is that any action on the road realignment proposal is still several years away. But, more importantly, we have been assured that the road realignment proposal, if and when it does begin, will not be problematic for our school.
It will be our intention to communicate with our Enota family all through the new school building construction. We want to keep our community informed and to also welcome input from the community. If you ever have questions about the plans for Enota, please feel free to contact either one of us. We look forward to the wonderful future that is in store for our students, our school, and our community!
Very sincerely,
Dr. Wanda Creel, Superintendent
Wesley A. Roach, Principal
