Dawson County High School’s two newest additions, the multipurpose athletic building and the Roger D. Slaton agriscience center, are nearing completion and should be ready to open before too much longer, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Hershel Bennett reported to the Dawson County Board of Education during its March 7 meeting. 

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The two buildings will both be located at the high school, with the agriscience center next to the school’s College and Career Academy building and the multipurpose athletic building located between the high school, performing arts center, gym and press box. Both are being paid for with the district’s E-SPLOST funding, and both are nearing the home stretch of the construction process, Bennett said. 

Multipurpose Athletic Building 

The multipurpose athletic building will house a basketball court, locker rooms, restrooms and a state-of-the-art weight room for students to use during the day for weight training classes and fitness classes and for student athletes to use after school. 

Once completed, the building will provide a wide range of opportunities to the students that the school wasn’t able to provide previously, including additional practice space, more room to spread out during practices and a place for student athletes to train even when the weather is windy or rainy. 

As of Tuesday’s board meeting, Bennett said, there are just a few pieces left to complete the building’s construction. 

“We’re very very very close,” Bennett said. “We have three things we’re waiting on: a few pieces of weight equipment, some TV electronics equipment and chair replacements.” 

Other than those items, he said, the rest of the equipment and construction is wrapping up, and the project will be completed soon. The district has a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) on the building, and is currently waiting on its CO from the city, which is currently reviewing close out documents, he added. 

Roger D. Slaton Agriscience Center

The Roger D. Slaton agriscience center, named in honor of late Dawson County Board of Education member Roger Slaton, will greatly expand the opportunities for the agricultural classes taught at the high school. The center will include classrooms and a show barn, as well as a pasture area to provide a dedicated area for the animals to spend time outside. 

As of Tuesday’s board meeting, the agriscience center also has just a few pieces left to wrap up construction, Bennett said. 

“The pole barn is ready to go in the back in the pasture. However, we were notified this week that the county is asking for documentation before construction; they want drawings and things like that,” Bennett said. “The solar panel is up; we’re waiting on the hookup this week for the solar panel. And the cattle tie bars for the cows are being galvanized this week.” 

Other than assembling the pole barn, which he said should be a quick assembly, hooking up the solar panels and installing the cattle tie bars, most of the construction is also wrapping up on the agriscience center. The district has the CO for the building and is currently waiting to be given COs by both the city and the county. 

Once both projects are officially completed, the school district is planning to hold ribbon cutting ceremonies to officially open both buildings.