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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The finish line is in sight.

Three years ago, the funds were approved for a new athletic complex at LaGrange High that includes a gym and an indoor practice facility.

Unless there are any unexpected delays, the complex that is being constructed by RA-LIN is scheduled for completion sometime this summer, and it should be open for business when the 2020-2021 school year begins in August.

“They’re talking about delivering the scoreboard this month, and the goals, and the bleachers in the first or second week of May,” LaGrange High principal Alton White said last week. “So it’s a lot closer than people think when they ride by.”

The facility, which is being paid for by E-SPLOST funds, includes a gym that will have room for more than 2,000 spectators.

The gym will have bleachers on three sides, and on the fourth side fans will be able to stand and see the action on the floor.  Also, there will be a running track that circles the gym.

The complex will also feature an indoor practice facility that can be used by the different teams at the school. It’ll be 30 yards long in addition to the end zones, and 53 yards wide.

Also, there will be a large practice room for the wrestling and competitive cheerleading teams.

There will be locker rooms, as well as state-of-the-art weight room, meeting rooms, a training room, and offices for the coaches.

White is grateful that he and coaches at the school have been given some input into the design of the facility.

“They’ve been included the whole time,” White said. “They gave us a basic design, but they let us alter some things. We made some rooms bigger, and we moved some things.”

White has been a regular presence at the work site since construction began last year.

“I’ll come over here three or four times a week. I’ve learned a lot,” White said. “The site foreman, especially when they first started, I’d ask why are they doing this, why are they doing that? He’s been real patient, and real helpful. I told him if I’m ever bugging you tell me just to leave.”

The idea, White said, is to make sure the project is done right and that it will stand the test of time.

“We thought we’d better take our time and do it right, because we’re not going to get a re-do,” White said. “This will be here for a while.”