Hoover High School to get new $5.4 million band facility

The Hoover school board on Tuesday night approved spending $5.4 million to build a new band suite for Hoover High School.

The 34,000-square-foot facility will be an addition onto the end of the current high school, in a gravel area near Buccaneer Stadium, said Tracy Hobson, the operations coordinator for the school system.

It will include a central room large enough to seat 600 people and will be surrounded by practice rooms for smaller groups and storage space for instruments and other band equipment, Hobson said.

The existing band room isn’t large enough to hold all of the marching band, which has 352 students, including the color guard and Buccanettes danceline, band director Ryan Fitchpatrick said. And the band is only going to get larger as bigger groups of students move up from Bumpus and Simmons middle schools, Fitchpatrick said.

In several years, he expects the marching band to have 400 members, which is about the size of the Million Dollar Band at the University of Alabama, he said.

Also, the band program is more than just the marching band, Fitchpatrick said. It includes four symphonic bands, three jazz ensembles, jazz combos, a music theory program, junior varsity and varsity Buccanette dancelines, junior varsity and varsity color guard units and a percussion ensemble, he said.

Duncan and Thompson Construction Services was the low bidder that won the contract from the school board to build the new band facility. Other bids were for $5.8 million and $6.1 million.

Construction will begin as soon as the Alabama Building Commission issues a notice to proceed and should take about 10 months, Hobson said. The target completion date is Aug. 1, slightly before the beginning of the next school year, he said.

Fitchpatrick thanked the Hoover school board for their leadership and foresight in seeing the need for a new band room.

“This is going to be something that touches students both now and in the future in a way that will be very powerful and provide performing arts and music education that will provide a foundation and make a difference in so many students’ lives at Hoover High School,” he said.

School board member Craig Kelley noted that Fitchpatrick informed the school board three years ago about the growth that was coming to the band program, and he thanked Fitchpatrick for being patient until the school system could find the money to afford a new band room.

Fitchpatrick said people in the band program are the ones who are grateful. “We know things of this size and scope are big projects that involve time and planning,” he said. “I’ve just been grateful that we’ve had the chance to do this in the right way and make the right decisions to prepare for the future.”

School board President Earl Cooper told Fitchpatrick that music is a lifelong gift. “Thank you very much for what you’re doing to touch all these kids,” Cooper said. “It’s huge.”

In other business Tuesday night, the Hoover school board:

• Approved a new policy regarding fundraising activities and crowdfunding that says any money, property or other resources obtained by a school system employee through grants, fundraising, or online giving in the name of the school or for the benefit of the school system or its students becomes the property of the school system and is subject to policies and procedures regarding school system resources. All fundraising activities still must be approved by principals in advance and must be intended to support school system programs or activities or be consistent with the mission of the school system. They also must be done in a manner that is not disruptive to or in conflict with the instructional program or other school activities.
• Approved a job description for a director of the Career Connection Center being planned for the former Riverchase Middle School. The person hired must have a master’s degree with certification in education administration or the equivalent, at least three years of teaching experience, at least two years of administration experience, and knowledge of career technical education programs and workforce skills.