The Huntsville City Council unanimously approved $4.37 million in construction services with Consolidated Construction Company to continue the next phase of renovations that will convert the original Grissom High School site into a facility the entire community can enjoy.
The new renovations to the Sandra Moon Community Complex will focus primarily on the 110,000-square-foot interior community center but will also include renovating existing offices and rehearsal space for Arts Huntsville.
The community center will feature new fire suppression and alarm systems, building code upgrades and ADA compliance modifications.
District 3 City Council member Jennie Robinson said the Sandra Moon Community Complex will bring life to the surrounding neighborhoods in the same way the Johnson Legacy Center enlivened the old Johnson High School site.
“When Grissom High School on Bailey Cove Road closed and the new school opened on the west side of Memorial Parkway, some people said we were taking away the heart of the neighborhood,” Robinson said. “The Sandra Moon Community Complex will bring heart and soul to the Bailey Cove area again as it provides a much-needed home for performing arts groups. These groups will be able to collaborate in a shared space and then perform together in the renovated auditorium. It will be a gift to the whole community.”
Eventually, the complex will again serve as the heart of activities in South Huntsville, including theater, musical performances, athletics and meeting space.
The 35,000-sq.ft. state-of-the-art South Huntsville Public Library opened in the north end of the complex in September 2021. Its old gymnasium hosts Huntsville Parks & Recreation’s Youth Basketball League. Twelve pickleball courts also in that space have become popular with the community.
The complex is named for former District 3 City Councilwoman Sandra Moon who passed in 2013. According to Robinson who called her a mentor, Moon always said “service is the rent you pay for your time on earth.”
The work should be complete in early 2023.
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