The Wilkes County Board of Education is moving ahead with plans for new athletic fields at the new high-school and middle-school complex.

At a called meeting August 27, Wilkes School Superintendent Dr. Rosemary Caddell presented the need for a detailed proposal for tennis courts, a softball field, and a baseball field, after the board had seen an overall design proposal from George McDavid of OneSource Engineering.

In consultation over the design proposal with John Harvey Edwards, who will supervise the construction, she said, “we saw that the most pressing need was detailed drawings.” After talking with McDavid, who provided the overall proposed plans at no cost to the school system, she asked for a price for all the detailed drawings needed to move forward with the construction.

“We’re not asking them to do the engineering consulting, just to provide plans,” she said. McDavid agreed to do three plans: one for the entire facility, one of just grading and the tennis courts, and one for the softball field and the baseball field.

The grading is included with the tennis courts because the courts require fill dirt to level the site. Because the tennis season comes first, board members agreed that completing the tennis courts is considered their first priority.

The board authorized the expenditure of $19,760 for the package of three plans. The money for the plans – and to complete all the athletic fields – comes from a $750,000 insurance settlement for hail damage to the old school site.

Once armed with detailed drawings, the board will be able to put the actual construction of the athletic fields out for bid.