Transformation of the Miller school site is underway

The project manager for the restoration of A.L. Miller High School says he expects plenty of challenges as work begins to transform the old school into a housing complex.

Crews with Renzo Construction and its subcontractors are now cleaning the school buildings that will become 62 apartments, while grading has started for the rental homes that will be built on the 11-acre site off Montpelier Avenue in Macon.

Construction of the nine rental homes should be completed in about six months, and the apartments at A.L. Miller are estimated to be finished by the end of January 2017, said Jim Huffstetler, the project manager.

While the former high school for girls has a solid brick structure, work crews must deal with the challenge of the unknown as they gets deeper into the project, he said.

"Normal construction is (challenging), but you throw in a building built in 1930 and it's more challenging," Huffstetler said. "Who knows what you'll find as you're going through walls?"

Those uncertainties, Huffstetler said, are worth the risk as excitement builds for the future A.L. Miller Village there. The project got a boost last November when Renzo's sister company, Oracle Consulting Services, received $1 million in tax credits.

Some of the upcoming tasks will involve taking down some ceiling tiles and undergoing a lead abatement process at the Miller school.

"It's taken a couple of months to do the preparations just to be here now," Huffstetler said. "You have all that hard work before you get started and finally you pull the trigger and get going. It's a really good feeling."

Over the years, the former school fell dormant and was vandalized. This past August, authorities ruled that arson was the cause of a fire at the old gymnasium and a classroom building.

The school that was once listed on the "Places in Peril" list by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is now part of what's expected to be a $12 million to $14 million investment. The apartments will be available for people making 60 percent or less of the local median household income.

The neighborhood around A.L. Miller also will get a facelift with $650,000 from Macon-Bibb County, although details of how it will be paid for are still being worked out, said Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore.

Commissioners promised to provide that funding as part of the tax credits application.

"Some of the things we've discussed as real possibilities are sidewalk repair or construction, road repair or improvements, street light installation, storm water and drainage system improvements landscaping, and house demolitions," Floore said in an email.

The area also could get help if it's selected for the next rotation of the 5 X 5 Neighborhood Improvement Program, Floore said.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Transformation of the Miller school site is underway ."