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\ See Page 12A Easter Marches On Commerce ) Vol. 133 No. 6 28 Pages 3 Sections Wednesday MARCH 26, 2008 mainstreetnews.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 School Board Unveils Plans For New CHS Schedule Means School Will Be Without Gym For Up To 2 Years By Brandon Reed Commerce residents got their first look at the proposed new Commerce High School Monday night. A near capacity crowd gathered in the CHS cafeteria to attend a called meeting of the Commerce Board of Education, where plans for the new high school were unveiled. Superintendent Dr. James E. “Mac” McCoy told those gathered that the board had decided to do the project in one phase due to the cost savings. “It’s not going to be easy but we can do it,” McCoy said. That decision means, however, that the school will have to do without a gymnasium for possibly two years. CHS Athletic Director Steve Savage spoke, saying he would do everything to try to make things work for the kids. “I don’t know if there’s a bet ter plan,” Savage said. 'That’s not what my job is. My job is to try to make it work.” Jessica Winstead of the archi tectural firm of Robertson Loia Roof unveiled the floor plans, and explained several of the building’s features to the audience. Security was a main feature, she explained, and the plan offers limited access points throughout the building to INDEX Births 1OA Church News 3B Classified Ads 1-6C Calendar 3A Crime News 7-8A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 9A Opinions 4-5A School News 8-1 OB Sports 1-4B Social News .... 10-1 1A control where people can enter the building, and when they can access certain portions of the building. The new facility will comprise 37 classroom units, with an ini tial capacity of 650 students. Key spaces have been sized to give expandability up to 975 students. The academic wing will place all of the curriculum classes in the same area, such as a science hub and a social studies hub. It will include a larger student cafeteria, which will consist of about 7,200 square feet. It will also serve as a multi-purpose area, being able to host prom functions or cheerleading practice. Corridors throughout the facility will give more room to move as the student body grows. The performing arts area of the school will be named in honor of Bill Anderson, whose City Lights concerts raised money to help equip the facility. It will include a theater capable of seating about 480 people, and can also be used for testing during the day. It will have a 1,600-foot stage, and there will be a band suite and chorale suite in the performing arts area. McCoy said the just under $500,000 that had been raised for the performing arts center from the City Lights Festival will be used to pay for the lighting and the sound system for the center. The new gymnasium will be a two-story facility, with a seating capacity of 1,400, with a mezza nine level that will allow around 500 people to watch from above. It will have one main basketball court, as well as four practice courts. On the upper level, there will be an oversized multi-purpose room that can serve the wrestling team and the cheerleaders. Please Turn to Page 5A Architect’s rendering of proposed main entrance of new Commerce High School Board Votes To Build In Single Phase By Brandon Reed Commerce will have its new high school built all at once, rath er than in two phases. At a called meeting last Wednesday, the Commerce Board of Education voted unanimously to build the new school in one phase, rather than on the two- phase schedule originally envi sioned . Superintendent Mac McCoy said the total cost of the two- phase process would have been approximately $19.4 million. Architect’s rendering of proposed student entry Please Turn to Page 5A Walgreens Will Have To Wait 30 Days For Ruling On Sign Variance WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY FRIDAY / Partly cloudy: Mostly cloudy: Low, 51; high, 74; Low, 55; high, 78; 20% chance rain 20% chance rain SATURDAY SUNDAY Isolated T-storms: Partly cloudy: Low, 52; high, 77; Low, 49; high, 66; 30% chance rain 10% chance rain Reservoir Levels Commerce: 698.9 (1.3 feet above full) Bear Creek: 695 (full) Rainfall this month 3.8 inches CONTACT US Phone: 706-335-2927 FAX: 70N3 87-5435 E-mail: news@mainstreetnews.com ma rk@ma i n streetnews. com brandon@mainstreetnews.com teresa@mainstreetnews.com Mail: P.O. Box 459, Commerce, GA 30529 Walgreens will have to wait a month to see if it can put a “let- terboard” sign up with its regular store sign at its new Commerce location. The pharmacy chain, which is to close on its Commerce site today (Wednesday), seeks a variance from the city’s sign ordinance to have a sign three times larger than allowed under the ordinance — plus a letterboard sign that could be used to promote store specials or to advise that a tornado warn ing is in effect. David Zelaya, Woodstock, and Michael Caldwell, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, appeared before the Commerce Planning Commission Monday night seeking the vari ance. But after discussing the mat ter for half an hour, the planning commission voted to table the discussion for 30 days to consid er how the city’s sign ordinance intended to handle such cases. Chairman Greg Perry, who point ed out that his brother is head pharmacist at the CVS across the street from the Walgreens site, did not hold out much hope for a thumbs-up recommendation on the variance. He told the two men that he expects that the planning commis sion “will give you what CVS got and if you don’t like that, you can appeal to the city council.” The planning commission is a recommending board. The city council will make the final deci sion. Caldwell, who with a partner will own the property and lease it to Walgreens, said he did not think that Walgreens would object to being held to the 24-square- foot minimum on the main sign, although the company’s standard sign is 80 square feet. He insisted, however, that the letterboard — a separate sign in which messages can be changed — is essential. “They can live with a 24-square- foot sign, but they hope you will not consider the reader board part of the 24 square feet,” Caldwell said. The city sign ordinance permits letterboard signs, but if they are electronic, their messages are lim ited to time and temperature. Jean Edwards, whose North Broad Street house is adjacent to the property, listened to the discussion and concluded that the sign aspect did not bother her. However, she asked that CVS offi cials explain to her how the build ing would be situated in relation to her house. After the discussion on the Walgreens issue ended, she, Caldwell and Zelaya went into an adjacent room for that discussion. Re-Zoning, Annexation To Be Recommended In other action, the planning commission voted unanimously to recommend that the city coun cil accept the recommendation of Ali Kahn to annex and rezone 7.76 acres on Steve Reynolds Industrial Parkway from R-2 (res idential) in Jackson County to C-2 (commercial) in the city for the construction of an office and retail complex. The city council will act on that Please Turn to Page 3A Hailstorm Took Heavy Toll On Vehicles More Than 3,000 Vehicles Damaged At Southeast Toyota The damage from the March 15 hailstorm in Commerce appears to be far grater than widely known. In fact, some people may not realize that their vehicles were damaged. “People need to check their vehicles,” advises Wayne Abbs, owner of Wayne Neal Chevrolet, where approximately 1,600 vehicles were damaged. “A lot of people pulled into our dealership for service and said they had no damage,” Abbs added. “They just didn’t know. The grand opening at Ingles — there’s not a car over there that didn’t have any damage. We had golf-ball-size plus hail here. It really came down and it wasn’t a pretty sight.” Bob Moore, vice president and general manager of Southeast Toyota, located on Hwy. 334 about a mile south of Wayne Neal Chevrolet, reports damage to more than 3,000 new Toyotas. “Unfortunately, we had more vehicles than normal on the ground due to current economic circumstances,” he stated. But the good news, Moore said, is that the dents caused by the hail were not as severe as those caused in a 1996 hailstorm at the same place. “I remember hail damage from that storm being obvious. You could tell it from a distance,” he said. “On this one, there is a lot of damage, but the dimples are smaller.” Moore agreed with Abbs that the damage can be difficult for the untrained eye to spot. “You have to walk up close to it, and if you have a good eye, you can Please Turn to Page 3A