Construction of the new seventh and eighth grade wing at Russellville High School should begin soon now that the school board has accepted a bid for the project. A & K Construction of Paducah was awarded the bid at a special called meeting Monday evening. They will also be doing the work at Stevenson Elementary School.

Construction at RHS will include building several classrooms, restrooms and an administrative area. A new track and tennis courts will also be built.

The complete plans for the RHS campus also included an athletic building, but a bid for that was not accepted.

“We could not afford that the way it is,” said Superintendent Roger Cook. Cook said the cost of the athletic building would have pushed the district above its bond capacity.

“I'm pretty pleased that we got everything but the athletic building,” Cook added.

Plans for restructuring the Russellville schools began over a year ago when the district learned that Russellville Middle School was listed by the state Board of Education as a category five building. This is a classification for older buildings that means the state will not provide any money for improving the facility and would rather the district get rid of it.

The local facilities planning committee came up with a plan to move the sixth grade to Stevenson Elementary and the seventh and eighth grade to the RHS campus after a new building is constructed there. This plan was approved by the state in August 2007.

In addition to the work being done for the seventh and eighth grade wing at the high school, work is also being done at Stevenson Elementary to provide more room for the sixth grade students. Cook said new classrooms and bathrooms will be added as well as new tile and color throughout.

“Basically the school is getting a facelift,” Cook said. “This will make it look like a different school.”

The cost of the total project is about $9.4 million, said Cook, who hasn't totally given up on an athletic building as well.

Though bids for the design they had chosen were much too high, Cook said they may consider looking into different designs that would be much less expensive.

As for the Russellville Middle School building, Cook said they are not sure what they will do with that property. Although some would like to see something done with the building, Cook said they will likely tear most of it down.

“I'm not opposed to keeping the gym,” Cook said. “It's just the practicality of it. The state won't let us spend any money on it.”

“If nobody spends any money on it, it's going to fall down,” Cook added. “We have our hands tied.”

With construction on the new building yet to begin, Cook said there is time to consider options for the RMS building. He hopes to have the seventh and eighth grade wing built and ready to go by December of this year.