Woodlawn Begins Cafeteria Expansion

WOODLAWN - Construction on the addition to the Woodlawn School cafeteria began in earnest Tuesday morning following a formal groundbreaking ceremony held with the Woodlawn School Board last Thursday evening.The school board held a special meeting last Thursday to conduct the groundbreaking as well as approve some personnel decisions, including one that named basketball coach Logan Adair as the head coach for both the boys and girls programs.Brody Richardson and Chris Young of Brody Richardson Construction of Sheridan, the construction manager for the job, joined Woodlawn Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock, members of the Woodlawn School Board and architect David Porter for the groundbreaking ceremony.In Februaiy, the school board approved a bid of $1,232,633 from Brody Richardson Construction to build a 2,754 square foot addition onto the south side of the school cafeteria facing the physical education building. The new expansion will not only provide extra dining space, but also add a second hot food serving line as well as renovations to the kitchen area that will include more storage and two additional refrigerated coolers.Brody Richardson said in a video posted on Facebook that, weather permitting, the project could be completed by the winter of this year, and students could begin using the new cafeteria expansion as early as the Spring 2027 semester. Hancock said during previous meetings that the additional dining space will allow the district to reduce the number of lunch periods from four to two: one for the elementary and one for the high school. Currently, the first lunch period begins at 11 a.m. while the last one starts at 1:15 p.m.The district waited until the conclusion of this school year last Friday to begin construction. The first phase will be tearing down the wall on the south side of the cafeteria and replacing it with a temporary wall to seal off the construction area from the inside the cafeteria. The temporar...