After months of planning, Red Bay High School is getting phase one of a two-part project underway.

Butler Construction, the company the Franklin County Board of Education contracted for phase one, arrived at the school at the end of November. Construction officially began Dec. 2 with a 210-day contract for the project to be completed.

“We’re just glad they have gotten started, and hopefully the weather does well,” said Franklin County Superintendent Greg Hamilton. “Always, working in the winter, you experience some issues as far as weather, so hopefully we will have some good weather so they can get some work done.”

To prepare for construction, the school altered bus drop off and pick up. Red Bay High School Principal Lance Mitchell said the main thing the school has had to work around with construction is a loss of some student and bus parking.

Mitchell said despite having to move some things around during the school year to accommodate construction, he is “excited to see the progress and excited to see some updated buildings and updated resources for our students.”

Mitchell said although the finished building still seems like a long way off to students, he can tell they are excited to see the progress.

“I think they are just excited to know their school is getting an upgrade,” Mitchell said.

Phase one will include new construction for the Agriculture Science and Family Consumer Science classes before moving to tearing down the current space these programs occupy.

Overall, the project is anticipated to add 1,100 square feet to the facility, comprising several additional classrooms and updated facilities. The new construction will also include the latest technology.

“The facility update was needed,” Hamilton said. “The building built in the ’50s is not what we need today in 2019 with state-of-the-art technology. It was just time for an upgrade.”