There’s a new plan taking shape for nearly 1,000 students whose schools were permanently closed by last year’s Waverly flood. The town’s graduating seniors paid a final visit to the wiped out buildings in May.
Now, kids enrolled in the town’s elementary and junior high schools will start their next semester learning inside an old boot factory that’s about to get an overhaul.
Renovations of the facility will come at a $11.7 million price tag. The majority of the costs, 90%, will be covered by FEMA. The state and local governments are footing what’s left of the bill. Waverly mayor Buddy Frazier told WPLN News that the building will have 69 classrooms.
“That is just going to be a temporary location,” said Frazier. “There will be two new schools built — an elementary school and a junior high school.”
As of now, school officials are still trying to figure out where those will be. Students have been attending classes outside of Waverly since the flood.
The renovated boot factory will host kids much closer to their homes and safely outside of the floodplain. But as for rebuilding Waverly’s other damaged buildings, local officials have hired contractors to speed up the town’s reviews of permits.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM