PRS Athletic Fields

09/19

PIKE ROAD, AL (WSFA) – At its last meeting, the Pike Road Town Council passed two resolutions that allocate millions of dollars toward growing the town.

The first resolution centers around a $23 million education bond the town council secured in order to help the school system.

“The first part of it obviously went to the purchase of the school [Georgia Washington, from Montgomery Public Schools] and the payback of the money that was misappropriated to us to the State,” Pike Road Mayor Gordon Stone said. “After that, we had a little over $13 million.”

Stone said the council voted to use the remaining funds to fully remodel and renovate the Georgia Washington Campus, maximize the 23 acres GW sits on by building PRS’ athletic facilities on the land and making capital investments in the other two campuses.

At a previous meeting, the Pike Road School Board presented a letter to the town council, following a community forum, recommending the GW renovations and that placement of the athletic facilities on the Georgia Washington campus.

Stone said the council unanimously approved the resolution. At a previous meeting, one council member raised concerns from her constituents about money being spent on athletic facilities when they felt work needed to be done on the existing schools.

Pike Road School Superintendent Dr. Charles Ledbetter said this in a statement: “The Pike Road Schools family would like to thank the Town of Pike Road and the citizens of Pike Road for the outstanding support for our schools. This is going to allow us to significantly improve the Georgia Washington campus and address our growth needs for future years. Working together we will continue to make Pike Road Schools a great school system.”

Stone said about $7.5 million is expected to be spent on the GW renovations, and about $3.5 million will likely be spent on the athletic facilities. He said whatever is left of the bond can be used for the capital investment as long as it meets the bond requirements.

The second resolution, which the mayor said all town council members but one approved, allocates about $1.8 million in municipal funds to building a facility on the Town’s donated Trotman property to be used for agriculture, recreation and performing arts.

“What we were able to do was find $1.8 million of money that we’ve been setting aside here at the Town, for the last six years, for capital projects,” Stone said. “We took that money, and we’re going to invest it in a public municipal park.”

Stone said architectural work on the GW renovations are already underway. He said he expects work to start on the parts of the school that are not being utilized first. He said the Town hopes the renovations and facilities will be complete by fall 2019. He said work on the Trotman property will likely take longer, starting with a planning process.

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