New Tallassee High School expected to be completed by August

TALLASSEE, Ala. (WSFA) - A new high school in Tallassee is nearing completion, and anticipation is building.

Construction has been ongoing for over two years. Tallassee City Schools Superintendent Brock Nolin said they are pushing to have the school complete before the start of the next school year.

“We’ve been able to make a really big push the last couple months in getting everything ready for our students to occupy the building in August,” Nolin said.

The project has been delayed by about five months, mostly because of a building materials backlog.

“Like 20 ton air conditioning units, which would have been ordered two years ago, that finally arrived two months ago,” Nolin said as an example.

The new 67,000-square-foot school features an auditorium big enough to seat 650 people and a band, a fine arts complex, media center and state-of-the-art science labs.

Both the interior and exterior of the new campus closely resembles the old Tallassee High School. The nearly 100-year-old campus was torn down in the summer of 2021 to make room for the new facility.

Since the old building was torn down, students have been learning inside mobile classrooms.

“Teachers and our students have been troopers over the past two years,” Nolin said. “They’re ready to occupy this new building. We all are.”

Despite construction delays, Nolin said they have been able to stay within their $21 million budget.

“The only upcharges we’ve experienced as a school board in funding the project are just minor changes or some infrastructure changes we’ve had to deal with as far as utilities, water lines and things like that,” he said.

For now, students will be using the old cafeteria, gymnasiums and academic building next door. They hope to also rebuild those facilities once funding will allow it.

Nolin said the new Tallassee High School was made possible because of a city sales tax that was passed several years ago, a city bond issue and a state bond issue.

Sign up for the WSFA Newsletter and get the latest local news and breaking alerts in your email!

Copyright 2023 WSFA. All rights reserved.