By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A crowd of about 100 gathered last Friday, February 21, braving sub-freezing temperatures and gusty winds to witness or take part in the groundbreaking ceremony that marked the imminent beginning of a $590,000 concession stand that will replace the decades-old one that stood at Herbert Barnes Field before it was demolished earlier this month.
The crowd that gathered at ECHS’s football field included Superintendent of Education Dr. Michele Collier, five members of the county school board, the school system’s deputy director of operations, members of the system’s maintenance staff and more than 50 Escambia County High School football players and cheerleaders. The City of Atmore also sent two representatives.
“This is an exciting milestone for Escambia County High,” said Deputy Director of Operations Shaun Goolsby as he shivered in the gusts that cut through all but the thickest jackets, coats, scarves and hats. “It’s not just about the brick and mortar, though. This is a commitment to enhancement for the students, teachers, administrators and everybody else at the school.”
Goolsby had been advised jokingly by Dr. Collier to “make it quick” due to the biting wind, and he took that to heart, speaking for only about two minutes.
He and Dr. Collier announced that work on the concession stand is scheduled to start March 1. A timetable for completion of the project was not provided.
The superintendent also kept her remarks short, saying that she was happy to celebrate the groundbreaking, and that she is “looking for great things to come (at ECHS) in the coming months.”
Goolsby, Collier and ECHS Principal LaTonya Gill joined school board members Loumeek White, Sherry Digmon, Greg Dawkins, Jerry Wilson and Coleman Wallace in the ceremonial turning of the dirt, each quickly lifting a golden shovel of red clay and tossing it back onto the pile from which it came.
Gill said after the ceremony that the new facility’s impact would extend beyond the ECHS campus.
“This is a momentous experience for the whole community,” she said. “It’s a win for the whole learning community.”