By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The preliminary stages of a construction project don’t tell a lot about what that structure will be, but Calvin Grace, who directs the city of Atmore’s Public Works Department, can’t help but smile when he looks at the work going on just a few yards from his present base of operations.
“I’m happy to see them working on it,” Grace said. “I was happy when the city council approved the money to build it, and I’ll be happy to see it finished.”
The 6,800 square feet building will be the new home of the city’s Streets and Sanitation Department when it is completed, which is expected to be in the relatively near future.
“I think they plan to have it done by the first of the year, probably the middle of January or the first of February,” he said of his department’s future home, which is being built at an estimated cost of between $950,000 and $1 million.
All site work had been completed, the plumbing had been roughed in, and conduits for the electrical wiring had been installed by late last week. GFC Concrete & Masonry Contractors personnel prepared late last week to pour the footing for the building.
Funding for the public works headquarters is being provided by United Bank through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development funding program, which provides long-term, low-interest, fixed-rate loans to cities or towns with a population of less than 20,000. Atmore’s Triptek Construction is the general contractor for the project.
Grace said the building that currently houses the public works department — once the home of Rogers Tractor Co. — will undergo minor renovation and will be used for storage.
“I’m not sure just how old this building is, but it’s been here a while,” he said. “We can fix it up a little and it’ll give us a pretty good bit of storage space. This whole project is going be a really good thing for us.”
News photo by Ditto Gorme