Brownwood High School continues their building and expansion projects with the construction of the new Brownwood ISD Ag building being finished up just before the Brown County Youth Fair kicks off.
Friday morning, students from Brownwood High School Vocational Agriculture classes and a Food Tech class helped Ag teacher Denzil Flood assemble pens and make finishing touches at the new BISD ag barn. The project was started in early September along with the new hog barn that students also built this past fall.
The new barn is state of the art, with 25 pens for sheep and goats, a heated storage room, and two washing stalls that are topped off with an infrared light that will help keep things warm when the students wash their project animals.
DuBose Panels of Lometa, Texas manufactured the pens and also donated half of the pens to Brownwood ISD according to Waldrop Construction Project Manager Tim Wilson. Each pen has a door that will lead to an exterior 20 foot pen.
The new barn is also insulated and has gravel around the building for a driveway and parking. The old high school track surface has been recycled and applied to the top of the gravel providing more durability to the surface.
The building is quite an improvement from the old barn that remains behind the new structure. The old barn still housed project animals on Friday morning and has an unheated and uninsulated wash room. Officials have not decided the future of the older barn, whether new metal will be applied or if the structure will eventually be torn down according to Wilson.
Plans are underway to build a show pavilion adjacent to the new barn. A dedication ceremony will be announced in coming days to name the future pavilion after former agriculture teacher Gerald Thomas.
Brownwood ISD will also break ground on the new East Elementary expansion after a construction permit is issued by the City of Brownwood. This project features 4 additional classrooms and is scheduled for completion sometime during the summer.
Top photo shows the interior of the new facility.
Front view of facility and driveway.
Students assembling pens.
Students working together to assemble panels for pens.
Students attaching panels to gates.
One side of the two washing stalls.
Heated store room with water heater gets finishing touches.
BHS Ag Teacher Denzil Flood and Waldrop Construction’s Project Supervisor Tim Wilson.
The old ag barn.
Exterior pens of the older barn.
Interior of the older barn.
The old barn’s wash area.
Pens inside the old barn’s washing room which is heated with a gas space heater.
Hog barn built by BISD maintenance staff with pens assembled by students fall of 2010.
Interior of the hog barn.
