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THOMAS WELLS | DAILY JOURNAL
The new gym at Smithville High School also will double as a community storm shelter. Students will move into the new campus in August.
Schools use summer for construction projects BY CHRIS KIEFFER DAILY JOURNAL
TUPELO – Tupelo High School students will have a new place to eat lunch outdoors this year. They’ll also have a lot more space for indoor dining. The school is expanding its cafeteria this summer and also adding outdoor seating to the courtyard next to the facility. It is one of several summer construction projects that have taken place in Northeast Mississippi school districts. The THS project adds a 2,000-square-foot addition to the back of the seating area, which now will accommodate about 700 students. It also adds a fifth serving line. The new addition will have glass windows that look into the courtyard, which will have benches, amphitheater-style seating and a knee-high wall where students can sit on their lunch breaks. “Students would go outside during lunch, but they didn’t have any seating,” said Tupelo Assistant Superintendent Matthew Dillon. “We saw a need where students wanted to be able to enjoy the beautiful weather and eat and socialize, and we also saw how crowded our cafeteria was and that we needed to expand it.” Dillon said the new area will be both aestheticallypleasing and functional. “It will be one of the nicer cafeteria areas you see in the state of Mississippi,” he said.
ADAM ROBISON | DAILY JOURNAL
Construction crews work on the cafeteria and new courtyard area at Tupelo High School. The expanded cafeteria will accommodate about 700 students, and the courtyard will give them a place to sit and eat outside. Century Construction is the general contractor on the project. Other summer construction projects in the Tupelo School District include the renovation of Carver Elementary with new flooring, windows and paint and the addition of a fence around the campus perimeter. The carpet was removed and replaced with colorful tile flooring. “We are really excited
about what we are doing there,” Dillon said. The Tupelo Middle School rubber floor gym was upgraded with new flooring and renovated locker rooms, and several other schools got new roofs or fresh coats of paint. This fall also marks the opening of Smithville High School’s new campus, after
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the April 27, 2011 tornado destroyed much of its previous home. Every building on Smithville’s campus has been improved – some with fresh paint, floors and roofs, while others are brand new. The most prominent structure on the campus is a concrete dome that will not only serve as the school’s gymnasium, but also will be
a storm shelter for students and community members. “We’ve always heard good things come to those who wait,” Monroe County Superintendent Scott Cantrell said. “I think we’ve put together a nice set up for the school campus, and we’re just looking forward to havTURN TO PROJECTS, 2E
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A supplement to the Daily Journal | July 26, 2013 | Section E