Storm damages roof at Austin Junior gym

Decatur Daily (AL)

Dec. 18--The Decatur school board declared an emergency and will accept bids today to replace the roof on the Austin Junior High auxiliary gymnasium after it was damaged by high winds.

"The storms that came through here on Monday blew the roof off the building," Decatur City Schools project manager Lee Edminson said at Tuesday's board meeting.

He said fencing at the baseball field at the new Austin High near Modaus Road and Shady Grove Lane and the backstop at the old Austin baseball field near West Decatur Elementary also suffered damage.

The big issue, however, is at Austin Junior High because water damaged the floor, and the walls in the gym will also likely have to be repainted, Edminson said.

He said high winds ripped off shingles and tar paper, but that decking remained in place.

Chief Financial Officer Melanie Maples said the district has insurance, and the estimated cost to make the repairs is between $300,000 and $500,000.

She said the system met Tuesday with four contractors who have agreed to bid on the project today.

Maples said state law permits school systems to declare an emergency and avoid the three-week process of advertising projects.

In a separate vote, the board authorized Superintendent Michael Douglas to accept and award the contract to the lowest bidder.

Edminson said his plan is to award the bid Thursday and have the contractor start work immediately. By Monday, he said, the roof should be completed so that no additional rain gets in the building.

"I think we can do the entire project over the holiday," Edminson said.

In a related matter, Dwight Satterfield, DCS deputy superintendent of school safety and student services, said people in the community used the two new high schools as storm shelters Monday.

This is the first time the area has been under a tornado watch or warning since the city school system agreed to let the facilities serve as public storm shelters.

Satterfield said 60 people used the shelter at Decatur High, while 58 checked in at Austin. Areas of the schools designated as public shelters can each hold between 300 and 400.

Satterfield said he expects the number of people coming to the shelters to increase as awareness increases.

"We need to do a better job getting the word out," he said.

He said Decatur police officers staffed both sites.

-- [email protected] or 256-340-2469. Twitter @DD_Deangelo.

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