January 2023 | Volume 11 | Issue 4
Sun HOOVER’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE HOOVERSUN.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
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A LOOK AHEAD AT
2023 City, school system plan more than $40 million in capital projects in 2023
By JON ANDERSON
T
Natalie Fleming, with the 2 Legit 2 Kick kickball team, pitches the ball during a practice. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Kicking off
he Hoover school board and city of Hoover in 2023 plan to embark on at least $40 million worth of capital projects, officials said. The timelines and costs for capital projects are very fluid, so the dollar amount is subject to change and does not include projects for which costs were not yet known.
Bluff Park women form kickball league
SCHOOL PROJECTS
By JON ANDERSON
The most expensive project the two entities have going this year is a $16.5 million performing arts center the school system is building at Hoover High. The 36,000-square-foot facility is being built right next to the new band room at Hoover High and will seat 940 people in the new auditorium, compared to the current 270-seat theater. School officials broke ground on the project at the end of September, and Blalock Building Co. expects the job to take 16 to 17 months to complete. Meanwhile, plans for a 10-classroom addition at Bluff Park Elementary School have been put on hold. Superintendent Dee Fowler said the school has experienced an unexpected decline in enrollment. The 10-classroom addition remains in the school system’s five-year plan, and money ($4.5 million) is still allocated for it, but “we will continue to gather enrollment data and monitor,” Fowler said. Another project put on hold is an estimated $2 million worth of upgrades to the bathrooms and concession stands at the on-campus football stadium at Hoover High.
Above: Construction is underway on the new fine arts center at Hoover High School on Dec. 8. Photo by Erin Nelson. Below: A rendering of the center slated to be open at Hoover High School by January 2024. Rendering courtesy of Lathan Architects.
For the past four years, women in Bluff Park have had their own whiffle ball league, but this winter they’re taking on another sport — kickball. One hundred and twenty women signed up for the Bluff Park Women’s Kickball League, which is scheduled to play games on Sunday afternoons from Jan. 8 to March 12. Most of the women are participants in the whiffle ball league, but 36 of them did not play the sport, said Rachael Taylor, the founder and director of the kickball league. The ladies who did play whiffle ball were able to stay with their teammates, but not all the players from that league signed up, so more women were able to join, Taylor said. Some of the teams needed to pick up one or two players, while others needed more, she said. Some wanted to start from scratch and form a new team. There was a draft for the newcomers, Taylor said.
See A LOOK AHEAD | page A30
INSIDE
See KICKBALL | page A28 Sponsors.............................................A4 City.......................................................A6
Business............................................ A10 Community........................................A16
Sports................................................A22 facebook.com/hooversunnews
Southern Voices
All-South Metro
Elin Hilderbrand to headline 2023 Southern Voices lineup.
Kaleb Jackson, Bradley Shaw and DJ Estes, named Defensive Players of the Year and Brooklyn Allison named Defensive Player of Year.
See page A20
See page A22-26
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