Construction crews are now on the ground at Huntsville Elementary, working on a new gymnasium that has been years in the making. The regulation-size gym floor will eventually seat up to 575 people in its bleachers.
According to WBIR, Scott County Director of Schools Marc Taylor said the contractor is on site and work is underway. Preen Construction submitted the low bid for the project, and the district worked with the school board, county leaders, Huntsville Utility, the architect and the contractor to get the project moving, the outlet reports.
Getting to this point required approval beyond the school board itself. The Scott County Board of Commissioners approved the funding framework in 2025, as the same report notes.
Fire Code and Utility Snags Ironed Out
Early on, the project ran into some technical hurdles common to new construction on older campuses. The Independent Herald provided video of a Scott County Board of Education meeting, but the available source does not detail the project's utility work or any related costs.
The district's report also notes that the fire marshal worked directly with the architect and contractor to resolve fire-code questions before work could proceed. Taylor said that kind of collaboration among agencies helped move the project forward. No completion date has been given, and the district acknowledges that weather and other construction factors could still affect the schedule. Still, per the outlet's report, Taylor said the district hopes to finish the gym sooner rather than later.
A Leadership Change Mid-Project
Taylor leads the district.
The new gym will include restrooms, a concession area and a room for student support, in addition to the regulation-size floor and bleacher seating.
Part of a Broader Push Across Scott County
The Huntsville project is a school-facilities upgrade in Scott County.
Huntsville Elementary is getting a new gym.
The investment mirrors a broader trend playing out elsewhere in Tennessee. Hamilton County Government and Hamilton County Schools committed, subject to approval by the Hamilton County Board of Education, $2 million in July 2025 toward a new gym at McConnell Elementary, according to Hamilton County Government, resolving that school's own multi-year lack of dedicated indoor assembly and PE space. For now, Scott County families are watching construction get underway at Huntsville, with no firm date yet for when students will get to walk into their new gym.
