Photo by Jon Anderson
A sign welcomes people to Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. The school is slated to get a new canopy at the entrance in the background to the left after the previous canopy was damaged by a vehicle in an accident.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday hired an architect to design two exterior improvements to the Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge campus that are expected to cost more than $500,000.
The school board plans to replace a canopy at the front entrance that was damaged by a vehicle this past summer and improve a driveway leading downhill to a recreation field by replacing the stone surface with pavement, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
The two construction jobs are expected to cost about $250,000 and $325,000, respectively, school board records show.
The school board on Monday approved two contracts with Lathan Associates Architects to design the improvements. Lathan Associates will be paid $20,000 for designing the new canopy and no more than $27,175 for designing the improved driveway to the recreation field, records show.
The school board’s insurance company will be seeking reimbursement for a good portion of the canopy replacement from the party that caused the damage, Freeman said. However, the school board will bear some of the expense because the decision was made to replace the damaged canopy with a larger one that extends the full length of the loading and unloading area, he said.
The canopy that was damaged this summer already has been removed. Dolly Ridge Principal Ty Arendall said people at the school will be excited to get a new one because students, staff and visitors have been exposed to rain and hot sun.
Also, the stone driveway leading down to the recreation field has been a hard surface on which to walk for some people, especially the elderly and people with disabilities, Arendall said. The paved surface and paved handicapped parking spaces at the bottom of the drive will provide better accessibility, he said.
Paving the driveway also will help prevent erosion, which has been a problem, he said.
