Christian County School System Superintendent Chris Bentzel has offered additional comments on the decision to postpone the merger of high school athletics and extra-curricular activities after the consolidation project was delayed by higher-than-expected bids.
The schools had been set to combine following the current school year, but Bentzel announced that wouldn’t happen last week. He says it’s still his intention to consolidate Hopkinsville and Christian County high schools into the Hopkinsville-Christian County Academy, but the focus now is on making construction of a new building at Fort Campbell Boulevard and Lovers Lane financially feasible.
Bentzel is excited about the partnership with construction manager Alliance Corporation and Hafer Architects and says getting reasonable bids for the project is the top priority.
The initial bids for the most basic version of the school came in at $200 million—about double the initial estimates.
Once construction bids are successfully in place, possibly in the spring of 2023, the current plan is to have the ‘farewell year’ during the 2023-24 school year, and the consolidation of the programs would begin in the 2024-25 school year.
You can hear the entire interview Friday night during the halftime shows of WHOP’s coverage of the Christian County and Hopkinsville High School football games.