A new $12 million school in Floyd County, Ky., was supposed to open by last October, but is sitting empty because of a lack of water pressure.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the water pressure at the new Renaissance Learning Center in Martin, Ky., won’t support the emergency sprinklers in the building’s anti-fire suppression system.
Floyd County School Superintendent Danny Adkins says a solution for the problem has not been finalized.
“It’s been frustrating,” says Adkins. “The facility is sitting up there, a brand new facility we can’t get in.”
Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Capt. Roxanne Jones says there is a plan she hopes will get the new school opened by next fall.
To fix the water pressure problem in the new building, officials will have to increase the size of a water meter and run a new water line to the building. Jones says the town of Martin’s water system is outdated.
The Army Corps of Engineers built the Renaissance Learning Center building largely with federal funds as part of a project to move homes, businesses and buildings in Martin out of a flood plain.
Last year, the Corps received $80 million from the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act to complete the flood mitigation and relocation project in Martin. The cost of the new water line and meter would be rolled into that project, says Jones.
The Center helps students who have fallen behind in high school credits needed for graduation. Floyd County Schools will own and operate the new building.
Two weeks ago, the district moved students from an aging building that was home to the Renaissance Learning Center into the old Allen Central High School, which closed more than a year ago. Adkins said the old Renaissance Center building had several leaks and students could no longer stay there.
