City and community leaders toured the new Biloxi High School Wednesday morning as construction workers were working to ready to the $32 million facility for Sept. 3, the first day of school.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility and will be a model for the state and Southeast,” Mayor A.J. Holloway said. “I think the school board has done an excellent job of anticipating the needs of our students and teachers.”
Leading the tours were Biloxi Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Larry Drawdy, architect David Hardy, and several school administrators.
The new facility — located south of Popp’s Ferry Road near the year-old North Bay Elementary School — features an academic wing with 54 typical classrooms, vocational-technical classrooms, science labs, and resource rooms; a fine arts complex with a 113-seat lecture auditorium, a drama department and band hall with two separate practice areas; an administration area; a health and PE area with gymnasium for male and female practice areas, concessions, a co-ed weight training room; and an exterior courtyard and amphitheater larger than a football field.
Some quick stats on the building:
- 284,000 square feet of floor space
- 8,500 cubic yards of concrete
- 525 tons of steel
- 830,000 units of brick
- 500,000 concrete blocks
- 15,000 square feet of glass
- 17,000 square feet of translucent window panels.
- 50 miles of communication and computer cable
- 125 miles of electrical wiring
- 60,000 square yards of asphalt paving
You can follow along on the tour, and view photographs from a May tour, by visiting the Photo Gallery.
