News

Boards to hold joint meeting to review details of HHS plan

HHS principal Bobby Wilkins answers a question about the construction plan as architect Maggie Carnavale looks on.

By Bill Moss, Published: January 16, 2019

Henderson County commissioners asked questions about a $59.2 million renovation-new construction plan for Hendersonville High School but otherwise reacted positively to the plan.

“I think we’ve made great progress and I think we’re headed in the right direction,” Commission Chair Grady Hawkins said. Before it authorizes design, Hawkins said, the boards would benefit from a joint meeting “so we have an opportunity to look at what we have planned here for the high school.”
“I would like a joint workshop,” Edney said. “I’ve got a lot of questions I would like to talk about.”
School Board Chair Amy Lynn Holt agreed to the joint meeting on behalf of her board.
Saying time was of the essence, Commissioner Bill Lapsley said the two boards need to meet right away, not early next month. The meeting is expected to be scheduled for next week.
Holt thanked commissioners for giving the School Board the opportunity to develop a new plan after the commissioners voted to drop the HHS construction and sell the adjoining Boyd property. The new plan renovates the Stillwell building, drops a new auditorium (the plan previously adopted by the commissioners included a new auditorium) and drops the Fassifern Court property, which the county bought for parking. The new plan doesn’t need the Fassifern Court property; all the parking will be on the Boyd lot (and, as now, on Oakland Street, Asheville Highway and Bearcat Boulevard).
“I’m saving you $23½ million,” Holt said. “I love this plan, my board loves this plan. I haven’t seen anything negative about it or heard anything negative about it.”
Hawkins, Messer and Edney all said they were concerned about future stormwater and sewer line replacement that will be needed as part of the construction project and the installation of new turf on the football field.
Architect Maggie Carnavale said the designers had anticipated and budgeted for those utility line moves and had been talking with city public works and water departments about when the work would take place. It’s possible the city would share in some of the costs.