Bainbridge High School Principal Tommie Howell talked about the major highlights of the new Bainbridge High School on U.S. 84 East and the reorganization of the Decatur County School System during a Wednesday address to the Bainbridge Lions Club.

“Our new Bainbridge High School, which we will be occupying in the fall, is something we can all be proud of,” Howell said. “The school sits on 18 acres of a 150-acre plot.”

There are just two entrances, one for buses and one for students, parents and other visitors. The school has a beautiful rotunda, Howell said.

“In our fine arts area, we have two band rooms, a chorus room and a drama department,” the principal said.

Howell said the student lockers are built in a way that will eliminate congestion in the halls.

“Unlike the lockers at the current Bainbridge High School, which sit out front in the halls, the lockers in the academic halls at the new Bainbridge High School are built into the walls,” Howell said. “We have a huge lobby where the administrative and guidance offices are located.”

Howell showed the Lions Club members a picture of the lobby, which contains a beautiful stain glass window with a Bearcat logo in the middle.

“The address of our new Bainbridge High School is One Bearcat Boulevard,” he said.

“We have two elevators that can be used by the disabled. Our new gymnasium actually seats more than our Decatur County Memorial Coliseum. The coliseum seats about 1,800 and the new gymnasium will seat around 2,500.”

Howell said the gymnasium is modeled after the gymnasium at Columbus State University,

“Our basketball team played in a state tournament at Columbus State a few years ago, and we really liked its lay out,” the BHS principal said.

Howell pointed out that the gymnasium also contains an indoor walking track and can be petitioned off to form three complete basketball courts.

“All of our sports facilities are first rate,” Howell said. “Our baseball and softball fields are in a complex adjacent to each other. In the past our girls softball program has been a little short changed, but now their field and facilities are just as good as the baseball field and its facilities.”

Howell said a beautiful new track facility on campus will enable the track and field teams to host some home meets next season.

“We will continue to play our football games at Centennial Field for the present,” Howell said. “We have enough room to eventually move our field on campus. We will have a football practice field on campus.

“Our swim team will continue to compete at the Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA and our golf team will continue to compete at Bainbridge Country Club, but all of our other sports will be on campus,” Howell said.

“With us moving to our beautiful new facility, seventh- and eighth-graders will move into the current Bainbridge High School on College Street,” he said. “Fifth- and sixth-graders will be at the current Hutto Middle School, and our elementary schools, Elcan-King, John Johnson, Jones-Wheat, Potter Street and West Bainbridge, will all have pre-kindergarden through fourth grade.”