By John Breech/ STAFF

By the end of next school year, Centennial may be the proud home of the most advanced high school athletic facilities in Fulton County. Friday morning, the school broke ground on an ambitious $3 million, four-phase project that, when complete, will add four new buildings to the school, including a weight room, a multi-purpose room, a locker room and an athletic office with meeting rooms.

According to athletic booster president Dave Nabors, the school tentatively plans to complete one phase of the plan every two years. Phase one in the project will consist of the weight room, coach’s offices, showers/restrooms and a press box for the baseball field. This phase is expected to cost the school about $600,000. The school has raised about a third of that money through private donations, which was enough to get the project underway, while North Georgia Bank provided a $400,000 loan for the rest of the initial phase. Centennial athletic director and soccer coach Phil Thomas told the over 100 students at the groundbreaking that the weight room should be complete sometime next school year.

The cost of the project has been reduced considerably thanks to several local companies who have offered their services at a lower rate. ASD, an architecture firm that designed Centennial’s soon-to-be built facilities and Griffin Construction were both instrumental in ensuring that the project came in on budget.

Thomas says the new buildings will be a boon for everyone associated with the school, “It begins to establish pride in the athletic department and the athletic program,” he says. “To have something that serves as a center piece for athletics at the school is a nice thing.”

He also thinks that this will put Centennial on par with some of the athletic facilities at Gwinnet County schools, “This project begins to put us on a level playing field with a lot of other schools, especially the Gwinnett County schools,” says Thomas. “Their athletic facilities are far superior to ours in Fulton County, so we’re looking to try and level the playing field and this is a step toward that. The entire project will put us in a place where we’re equal to or superior then those schools.”

If the project stays on budget, the school expects to complete the final phase in 2016. Nabors knows that sounds far off, but he stressed that students will be reaping the benefits of the project before the end of the 2009-10 school year when the weight room is complete.

The Knight’s booster club will be hosting a casino night fundraiser on May 9 to raise money for the project. For information e-mail Kathy Pachman at kathypachman@gmail.com or call 678-585-0895. Tickets for the event are $50 apiece.