Construction

on the new Crabapple Lane Elementary in north Peachtree City is so far

ahead of schedule, students might move into the facility within weeks

of the start of the new school year in August, and not in January, as

originally projected.

The project

is ahead of schedule despite the record wet spring because most of the

exterior work is complete. Contractors have been focusing on the interior

details and finishings in recent weeks, according to the montly update

from the school district's facilities department.

Because of

the good fortune, students assigned to Crabapple this fall probably won't

have to wait until January to make the move from temporary quarters at

nearby Kedron Elementary.

School Board

Member Janet Smola last week praised efforts to get the building open

early, and suggested it might be ready by the first of September.

There has been

no confirmation from the county office that the opening date will change,

however. Crabapple Lane is the third and final elementary school to be

built using money from the 2000 bond referendum.

Work on the

district's other major capital project, Whitewater High on Ga. Highway

85 South at Goza Road, is also ahead of projections, but not as significantly

as Crabapple.

In a report

to the school construction oversight committee two weeks ago, it was reported

that masonary walls and door frames were going up in the classroom wings

of the school, sprinkler systems were being installed and the gym floor

was ready to be poured.

Outside, curbing

and drainage work for the driveways and parking areas are in place, and

the lay of the campus including placement of the athletic fields between

the school and the Kiwanis Fairgrounds can clearly be made out.

The oval concrete

perimeter of the running track is already fenced off, circling a muddy

football field where irrigation equipment has been installed. Concessions

and restroom facilities are going up underneath what will eventually become

the home and visitor grandstands, and workers are assembling the football

stadium lights at ground level so a crane can come in and lift them into

place.

At the north

end of the football field is the baseball complex, complete with fencing

already, and to the south is the softball stadium. Concrete dugouts are

going up at both fields.

In spite of

all the progress, Whitewater won't open before fall 2004, even though

the freshman class will be housed this coming school term at the LaFayette

Educational Center.

Work on retrofitting

parts of the LEC, which is the old Fayette County High campus, is continuing.

Fresh paint and carpet, new lockers and some new furnishings are being

installed to accommodate the 372 ninth graders expected to enroll this

fall, most all of them drawn from Fayette County and Starr's Mill attendance

zones.

When they

do move into their permanent campus, Whitewater students will be the first

among the county's five high schools to have a completely finished complex

from the start with no "second phases" or partially finished

fine arts or athletic facilities. It will include a 1,000-seat auditorium

and lighted football stadium.

Among other

projects going on around the school district:

·East

Fayette and Fayetteville Intermediate schools are getting new kitchens.If

these kitchens are not finished by the time school starts, meals would

be prepared at LaFayette Educational Center and transported.

·Construction

documents for both McIntosh and Sandy Creek additions are in final review.

Parking lot work has already started. The county was waiting to hear final

word on funding from the state before bidding the projects.

·Many

more shools are getting new carpet, interior painting, lights, and other

maintenance projects.