[3/26/04]Just more than a year after construction began at Vicksburg High School on the largest band hall in the state, plans are under way to build one of comparable size at Warren Central High School.

Construction began on the 14,123-square-foot-facility at Vicksburg High School on Drummond Street in February 2003, and Vicksburg Warren School District board members voted Thursday to begin the bid process for a similar hall at Warren Central, on Mississippi 27.

About 115 people, including choral and band directors, attended the board meeting to show support for the facility.

“It will be a major improvement,” said WCHS’s band director, Alan Arendale. “It will be a source of pride for the choir and band members.”

The band program at the high school has 128 members, and those numbers are expected to increase to 171 in the coming school year.

The choral program headed by Nancy Robertson has 185 members.

Both directors said space has been the biggest problem in rehearsals.

Arendale said the band members have outgrown the current band hall, which was once the school’s maintenance shop, while Robertson said her students practice in a closet with the only source of light being a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Robertson, Arendale and assistant choral director Christopher Haygood said they were encouraged by the board’s support.

Arendale first presented the board with drawings of a 13,860-square-foot structure, which would cost the district about $1.7 million.

But when questioned by District 5 Trustee Kay Aasand about whether the proposal would provide the band with room to grow, Arendale said the space was adequate, but could be outgrown in three years.

The board then voted to accept bids on a bigger facility, at the cost of about $1.85 million, to be paid from the district’s capital funds. Plans were not available for the larger facility.

Construction at Vicksburg High School was completed in November, and the facility cost $1.5 million.

Both structures have been designed by the Tupelo-based architectural firm Johnson, Bailey, Henderson, McNell.

The board finished business regarding the Vicksburg High facility Thursday by voting not to forgive a $24,500 penalty to Harris Constructors for rain delays. The project was completed 49 days late.

The band hall issues were first brought to light when the architectural firm was hired in 2002 to survey the buildings in the school district, resulting in roofing projects and the band hall facilities.