GOOD HOPE — Cullman County Schools officials were joined by the student population of Good Hope Middle School Thursday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking of a project to build a new gym and library for the school.

Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette said the project will include the demolition of a boiler room on the school’s campus to make room for the new gym and library, along with new offices for the administration, and sidewalks to connect the new buildings.

The school does not have a library or a gym for itself, so students have used the high school’s, and Barnette received a round of applause from the students when he asked if they were excited about finally getting their own.

He thanked the members of the school board, the Cullman County Commission and the City of Good Hope for helping to make the project possible, and said all of those people are making the students a priority when deciding the best way to spend money.

Barnette said the contractors should get to work on the project at the beginning of January, and the plan is for the construction to be completed by January of 2023, so some of the students in the school today should be able to take advantage of the new facilities before they move on to the high school.

“Maybe not for our eighth graders right now, but for our sixth and seventh graders who are in this school right now, y’all should be that new addition,” he said. “So we’re really excited about that.”

The system’s leadership also gathered in Hanceville last month to celebrate the groundbreaking of a $4.8 million classroom expansion and new cafeteria at Hanceville Elementary, and more projects are on the way.

The county school system received funding early this year from a state bond issued through the Public School and College Authority, and announced $8 million in projects that will be completed on the system’s campuses with the funds.

Along with the Hanceville and Good Hope projects, the bond funds will be used for a lunchroom expansion for Cold Springs High School and Elementary School and for a West Point High School and Elementary School lunchroom expansion and new roof.

The Cullman County School System received a total of $11.5 million from the bond issue, and will not have to pay any of the money back, Barnette said earlier this year.

With around $8.45 million planned for the improvement projects, the rest of the $11.5 million will go towards energy saving measures at campuses around the county, he said.