Construction continues on the expansion of Los Fresnos United school. The first phase of the project began late last year when D. Wilson Construction Co. of McAllen started building athletic locker rooms, a band hall and parking areas west of the existing campus at 3370 FM 803. That phase, worth $7.6 million, has now been completed, Ronnie Zamora, the Los Fresnos school district spokesman, said.
The next phase of additions to LFU is under construction, and includes an expansion of classrooms on the west side of campus, as well as a gymnasium-community safe room, Zamora said. The shelter project was approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and can be used as an emergency shelter, 1,600-seat competition gym, and a multi-purpose center. Under FEMA guidelines, Zamora said, the federal government pays 75 percent of the cost for the safe room, while the school district pays the remaining 25 percent. The 20,000-square-foot facility will be built at the southwest corner of LFU, west of the current gym and south of the new locker rooms, he said. Upon completion of the entire project, expected for the fall of 2016, the campus is expected to include both ninth and 10th grade students. Enrollment is expected to be about 1,600 students, Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar said. Work is being done on FM 803 to accommodate the increased enrollment, he said. “Having four lanes of traffic and a turn lane will help our buses and other vehicles in and out of the school, which will eventually be the second high school in our district,” Salazar said.
Travis Whitehead
