CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Could a new addition soon be coming to the Howard School’s campus?
Over the past few years at The Howard School, there have seen a new football field built among other facility upgrades.
Now, the county wants to build a brand new indoor sports facility along with other upgrades.
However, there are some concerns that some other issues here at Howard School are not being properly addressed.
During this week’s Hamilton County School Board’s Finance Committee meeting, Howard’s school board representative Jill Black said, “There are some real issues with temperature regulation. It is freezing during extreme cold. It is burning up, people are passing out during extreme heat.”
That concern over the Howard’s HVAC units is something that Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp says is being addressed in a new plan to build an indoor sports facility on campus.
Mayor Wamp said, “As part of the scope of that project, they also will be revisiting HVAC concerns in the existing school.”
The county commissioner for Howard, Joe Graham, says there has been work done on the school’s HVAC systems in recent years.
Graham said, “We put a $1.5 million chiller there. It took us a year to get it, but we got it installed and now it’s doing an excellent job.”
As for the bigger project, it would be 22,000 square feet and be able to accommodate numerous sports on the footprint of the old gym.
Mayor Wamp says in addition to boosting the school, it could also draw outside tournaments.
He said, “We envision it being used during baseball season in bad weather. Baseball can use it so as football, baseball and ROTC which is a big program at Howard. I don’t want to confuse that since the old gym is going away, this will not be a new gym, but this is a novel indoor facility. The county doesn’t have anything like it.”
Howard Executive Principal Dr. LeAndrea Ware says that these upgrades are well needed.
Dr. Ware said, “It is just not about the upgrades, but it is opportunity, hope, and strength in our community.”
The Hamilton County Commission will vote on this project next Wednesday.
