Some delays work out for the better

It was early last year that the Commerce Board of Education planned a May or June starting date on the project. It had decided to demolish the gym and do without a gym during the construction process, which would have allowed a savings estimated at $2 million for the project.

Strong citizen objections led to a change of heart and the plan to build a second “practice” gym — which is almost completed. Next season’s basketball games — and maybe the following — will take place in the auxiliary gym.

What that also did was add another delay onto the project while the second gym was built, during which time we officially entered a recession, construction dried up, steel and other materials’ prices fell and contractors became desperate for jobs.
Steel for that auxiliary gym was exceptionally expensive, demonstrating what likely would have befallen the entire project had it been bid last spring.

The citizens group, People Excited About Education in Commerce, which formed over the gym issue and later expanded its objections to other features in the design, didn’t get what it wanted from the Commerce Board of Education in terms of design changes to the school. But members have to know that their resistance ultimately saved millions of dollars that can now be invested in equipment and furnishings for the school.

Of course last year’s delay wasn’t the first, and it may not be the last. Superintendent Mac McCoy has often joked that once construction began, the Georgia drought would end. Noting that it rained or snowed four straight days after the bids were opened, McCoy could be proven right.

Nonetheless, I’m excited to see this project inch toward the day when the most-used building in this community won’t be an ugly 1950s structure that is outdated and worn out. What happens inside the walls is more important than how the buildings look, but our kids deserve better.

It’s way overdue, but at least we can take consolation in the fact that the delays — at least the most recent ones — are letting us get more for our money.

Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce News. He lives in Commerce.