STARKVILLE — The Oktibbeha County School District is about to have a downtown address when it begins operations out of its new Main Street building.
The new building is located at 106 Main St., tucked into the block between the Oktibbeha County Courthouse annex, All-State Insurance and Mugshots. The stately red brick, two-story structure anchors the north end of Main Street just before it turns south and meets First United Methodist Church.
“The building will meet our needs,” Superintendent James Covington said. “It is a wonderful addition to the Main Street effort. It is going to complement Main Street, and we”ll finally be in a permanent facility.”
Covington said the makeshift offices the school district has operated out of for the last few years made it difficult to conduct business.
“This has been a long time coming. It should give a sense of pride to our student, parents and the community as a whole,” he said.
The building is long and relatively narrow, with a landscaped parking lot in behind. The parking area adjoins the Oktibbeha County Sheriff”s Office and is the location of the former Oktibbeha County School District central office building.
The exterior has three arched entries onto first- and second-floor porches. Big windows along the front and side let in plenty of light, and decorative metal railing sets off the open front entry. Ornate lamps provide exterior lighting on either side of the front door, and the exterior sides are bathed in light at night.
Inside, olive green walls are far removed from the beige or grays often found in office spaces. Elevators and stairways provide easy access to both floors. Covington said basic floor plans had been drawn up when he came into office in 2008, and he has been involved with many of the building decisions since then.
The former central office building suffered roof and water damage in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina passed through the area. The central office staff was moved to rented space in an old shopping strip on old Highway 25 next to Dirt Cheap and across from Starkville High School.
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors bought the land and hired Anco Construction of Corinth to build the central office for the county school district. Work began in the spring of 2010. The new space is more than 8,000 square feet and cost the county about $1.6 million.
Work is supposed to be completely finished and the building occupied by the end of July.
“There are some punch list items they need to take care of prior to us moving in, otherwise they would have to work around us,” Covington said of the delay.
In the meantime, the old business office is operational, although movers were hired and some offices packed up and loaded onto moving trailers in anticipation of the original July 1 move-in date. The 2010-2011 fiscal year ending and another one beginning makes this a difficult time for a move.
“Our desktop computers are packed up, but we are still able to use laptops and go about using the daily business,” Covington said. “We”re waiting with anticipation for the new building to be complete.”
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