The district has already allocated $1.6 million to reconstruct this part of the building, but more work is needed, according to Assistant Superintendent Eddie Anderson.
Anderson also anticipates that construction will be ongoing at the entrance of the main building. He said he will likely have to ask the county commission for additional funding to fix the building’s foundation sometime in the next two to three months.
Related: New Hanover High School needs upwards of $90 million in capital improvements
The commission said it would not allocate any new school capital improvements in this year’s budget, so the $1.6 million constitutes most of the district’s overall $2 million capital budget for the upcoming year, which is coming from Education Lottery funds directed to the district from the state. NHCS does have $11.4 million in remaining capital funds from past years — but, according to district officials, that funding is already in the pipeline for existing projects.
Anderson said the district and the structural engineers they’re working with still need to determine “what’s behind the walls” in the main building, which, according to him, was “by far the worst” and will be an “ongoing project.”
On Tuesday, July 2, the school board will discuss this renovation and the future needs of the over 100-year-old school. All board members have agreed that there needs to be a larger, “robust” discussion on the school’s future.
During a board meeting this week, member Hugh McManus asked his colleagues, “When will New Hanover be the focus?” He added that the situation is becoming “dangerous” and that the repairs at the school are “constant, and we’re reinforcing something all the time.”
Anderson responded that New Hanover High would be a part of upcoming capital priority lists. He said the overall costs would have to be funded through a potential school bond or “some other fund," adding, "the community knows the need is there.”
Walker agreed that the district is in a “desperate place” with New Hanover and that the Master Plan for the school needed to be approved and completed.
Anderson told WHQR in May that the planning would cost around $300,000. Overall, the school's rehabilitation estimates are over $90 million.
