By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The old junior high school gymnasium is not only salvageable, but can be made safe enough for students.
That was the gist of a meeting which took place this morning between Forrest City School Superintendent Lee Vent, architect Bob Beavers, contractor Gary Kennedy and others.
Vent said there had been concerns that the old gym might not be safe.
"That's not necessarily the case," Vent said. "The gymnasium is a 58-year-old structure built in 1944 after a fire destroyed the first one. And this structure has withstood the test of time, it's withstood the test of high winds, even the test of tornadic winds, and certainly a lot of seismic activity over the last 58 years."
He said the concern was to make sure they had the capacity to go back in and make the structure stronger. One concern was the wall which had been part of the old two-story junior high building. The old junior high has been demolished, and there were concerns over that particular wall, as well as other walls in the structure.
"We developed a concept last week that is going to additionally insure the safety of the kids," said Vent.
"The primary concern is the wall next to the part that was demolished," he said. "We think it needs some additional insurance. What we are going to do, is make that wall a 'sandwich.' We will put a wall on either side of it, therefore making the current wall the 'meat' of the sandwich, to assure that should something happen that would cause it to weaken, it would not collapse."
Vent said that when he was in the military, he was a survivor of an earthquake rated at 8.6 on the Richter scale (Alaska, Good Friday, 1966). "Nothing will withstand that. It depends on the amount of activity and the severity of it."
He said there will be eight-inch steel studs bolted to the old wall, inside and out. The finished new wall will about 20 inches thick. The new inside wall will be bolted to the foundation and the roof.
"I do not know what else we can possibly do to insure the safety of this," he said.
The opposite wall will be, as Vent said, "a sandwich with one slice of bread." There will be only one new wall built.
Also, in the bleacher area, there will be an additional wall.
"The bleachers, in and of themselves, are a major support. But above those areas is a space we need to address."
Vent continued, "We are taking every precaution in making this a safe and viable building for the Forrest City School District."
Kennedy said he believed everything feasibly possible is being done to shore up the walls.
Beavers said when work began on the old gym, that Kennedy had "discovered some things there, such as the connection of the roof to the wall, were not what we had anticipated."
According to Beavers, bracing was already being planned, but the discoveries made called for some additional work.
Vent commented, "When you go through renovation, you're going to run into some surprises."
When asked, Vent said there are no available blueprints from 58 years ago.
Beavers said, "The only thing we had was very diagrammatical, and I guess you would say, misleading. That unfortunately is true about a lot of things. Even if you have a good set of plans, a lot of time the actual construction doesn't follow through."
Vent also said that the time the structure was built should be taken into account.
"It was 1944. It was wartime. I'm sure architects and engineers probably did not give it the preciseness it needed. They probably tried to get it built as quickly as possible. Fifty-eight years ago was exceedingly different," Vent said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A 17-mile stretch of Interstate 40 in St. Francis County will be one of many areas where interstate construction will be apparent in 2002, according to a press release from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Depart-ment.
The AHTD's Interstate Rehabilitation Program is expected to reach its peak in mid-2002 with nearly 300 miles of interstate construction at one time, according to AHTD officials.
"The amount of construction will start decreasing after this year, and we can all look forward to driving on safer and smoother interstates soon. Arkansans have been very patient throughout the Interstate Rehabilitation Program, and we are working hard to keep them informed," said Dan Flowers, Director of Highways and Transportation.
The IRP is a five-year plan, approved by voters, to improve the interstates throughout Arkansas. Projects in 2002 will total 142 miles at a cost of $415.4 million with sites in Clark, Crawford, Crittenden, Faulkner, Franklin, Hot Spring, Johnson, Lonoke, Mississippi, Pope, Prairie, Saline, Sebastian and St. Francis counties.
According to the press release, a project which will replace four pair of main lane bridges and raise three overpasses will have contracts let this summer in St. Francis County along 17.07 miles of I-40 from Arkansas Highway 38 to Shearerville.
Other eastern Arkansas locations seeing construction will be a 3.56 mile stretch of I-40 from Highway 77 to Highway 131 in Crittenden County, where crews will be working on road surface rehabilitation and remodeling of one overpass. Crews will also begin a road surface rehabilitation project on 4.42 miles of Interstate 55 in Crittenden County from the Mississippi River to I-40. Both projects are expected to be let in the summer.
Forrest City residents are also seeing progress being made on the Forrest City Bypass, and according to Ray Woodruff with the AHTD, a break in the weather could allow the project to move along at a faster pace.
"The work on the bypass has been moving slowly, but surely, and that's to be expected this time of year. Once we see a significant break in the weather, things will begin to move a little faster," Woodruff said.
A pair of projects which will improve Arkansas Highway 1, are also expected to begin this summer. According to Woodruff, crews are expected to begin a project in Lee County to widen Hwy. 1 to four lanes from just south of Marianna north to near Felton. Crews will also begin work expanding Hwy. 1 from Colt to Wynne to four lanes.
Unemployment in St. Francis County increased in November and December.
In November, the rate was 5.9 percent, up from 5.6 percent in October. December unemployment showed another increase, to 7.2 percent.
The unemployment numbers were recently released by the Arkansas Employment Security Department.
In November, St. Francis County had a civilian labor force of 12,000, with 11,275 working and 725 not working. In December, the civilian labor force stood at 11,950, with 11,075 working and 850 not working.
In November, St. Francis County was tied with Izard County for the 20th highest unemployment out of the state's 75 counties. In December, St. Francis County was tied with Lawrence County for 16th.
Unemployment in surrounding counties during November was as follows: Cross, 5.7 percent; Crittenden, 4.9 percent; Lee, 6 percent; Phillips, 7.4 percent; Monroe, 6.2 percent and Woodruff, 6.2 percent. In December, those rates were: Cross, 6.4 percent; Crittenden, 5.5 percent; Lee, 7.7 percent; Phillips, 9.4 percent; Monroe, 8.7 percent and Woodruff, 8.9 percent.
The highest unemployment for both months was in Mississippi County, which had a rate of 11 percent in November and 12.1 percent in December. In both months, it was the only county in the state with unemployment over 10 percent.
Washington County had the lowest jobless rate in the state for both months, with 1.8 percent in November and 2.1 percent in December.
The St. Francis County Courthouse will be one of four sites for Town Hall Meetings with the Arkansas State Election Improvement Study Commission.
According to a release from Secretary of State Sharon Priest's office, the Election Study Commission will meet Monday, March 4, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the quorum court room at the courthouse.
The meeting will allow voters and elected officials a forum to comment on election improvement as well as present concerns, offer suggestions and ask questions about elections in the state, according to the press release.
The information gathered will be used to make final recommendations to the Arkansas General Assembly, Priest said.