New OCSD building takes shape

County school board building 1.jpg [1]

Crews lay bricks on the new Oktibbeha County School District building.

By KELLY DANIELS and BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News

The grant-funded construction of the new Oktibbeha County School District’s new administrative office building is 50 percent complete, officials say.
Workers have finished most of the exterior development, including the frame of the building’s second floor, concrete and brick, county administrator Don Posey said.
The structure, which features balconies and a memorial park, needs to be entirely enclosed before interior work can begin.
Mississippi’s Hurricane Katrina recovery fund awarded Oktibbeha County with $1.6 million after its education office suffered irreparable damage from the hurricane.
The previous county school administration building on Douglas L. Conner Drive was demolished to make room for the new building, as was the site of a former dry cleaning business.
When Katrina struck in 2005, severe damage was done to the previous building’s roof and exterior, creating mold and mildew conditions inside that created health problems for some district employees.
The conditions in the former building prompted the Board of Supervisors to seek alternative space for the district’s central office, relocating it to the former Kroger building shopping center across from Starkville High School.
The OCSD office still operates at that location.