The Humble Independent School District’s major construction projects are on schedule and on budget, officials said, despite uncooperative winter weather.

The district’s big-ticket projects slated for completion by next fall are an overhauled Turner Stadium, the new Woodcreek Middle School, a new unnamed elementary school and renovations to the Community Learning Center.

Turner Stadium has the tightest deadline. The facility will host a regional track meet on May 3, eight days after the track surfaces are set to be finished, said athletic director Troy Kite.

The home bleachers, ticket booths and concessions should be done for the meet, Kite said, but the press box and visitors’ side structures will not. The partial construction site will be a logistical hassle, Kite said, but the site will be ready for competition.

“We’ll hit that target,” he said. “But I’m not going to lie. Every day I watch the weather.”

December was not a good month for weather-watching, as construction crews lost 22 days to rain, Kite said.

Still, a second shift was built into the budget, and Kite said he’s passed the site at 2 a.m. and seen workers erecting steel.

Seating at the stadium will remain about 10,000 but can grow to 12,000 for large events, Kite said. More importantly, he said, it will be a district stadium and not one high school’s field.

“It doesn’t send a warm welcome for a Kingwood Park Panther when they’re seeing Humble High School stuff” in the locker room, Kite said. “All my high schools will feel like they’re a part of this now, rather than feeling like outsiders.”

At Woodcreek Middle School, principal Thyrun Hurst looks forward to having one self-contained hallway for each grade in the new building.
That will contrast sharply with his experience at Atascocita Middle School, which he led until December, where enrollment is nearly double capacity.

Woodcreek will be a move from isolation — AMS has 19 portable buildings — to collaboration, he said.

The school, which will house 1,110 students at 14600 Woodson Park Drive, was designed to sit next to a new YMCA building that has been delayed. Hurst said he looks forward to more after-school program possibilities when the YMCA building opens.

The new elementary, referred to as Elementary 26, will relieve Eagle Springs Elementary, which is overcrowded and is using 12 portable buildings.

The new school, on Valley Lodge Drive, will hold 950 students and is themed around energy, said assistant superintendent Martha Buckner.

The main hallway will introduce children’s museum concepts into the school through touch screens, where kids will be able to monitor the building’s electricity, and interchangeable exhibits featuring pulleys and other simple machines.

The school also will feature a rainwater collection system and solar panels. The district has the equipment to run a residential wind turbine but still is seeking a sponsor to buy the $40,000 turbine itself. The school is on track to be certified an environmentally friendly facility.

The Community Learning Center, on Timber Forest Drive, houses three programs: early childhood education, alternative education — such as drop-out prevention and classes for teen parents — and facilities for emotionally disturbed students.

A 37,000-square-foot addition there will house the behavior training center and early-learning programs and will include a motor lab for behavioral students.
Those students also work in portable buildings now.
“This is a huge change for them for the better,” Buckner said.