Just two and half years after district voters approved a $198 million bond for Tomball ISD, the district is nearing completion of the construction projects ear marked for the funds.

At the Nov. 10 meeting of the Tomball ISD School Board, trustees unanimously approved $12 million in expenditures for a new ancillary building and transportation annex, as well as a new agriculture barn for the district.

A portion of the funds will also be used for the demolition of Beckendorf Intermediate School, which closed last year.

The ancillary services building and transportation annex projects, according to the district, “consists of a new building for the Ancillary Services Department, including offices, workshops and a warehouse. Included is an Annex Building for the Transportation Department that will house drivers, dispatch and supervisors.”

The budget is $8.5 million for the 40,000-square foot facility. The project is expected to be completed by December 2010 and will be located at 1055 Baker Drive near the current transportation facility.

Tomball ISD is budgeting just over $2.5 million for its new Ag Project Barn, set to open in May 2010. “The barn will house cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys and rabbits,” and will be used by students “who do not have use of land to raise their project animals,” the district stated in a report to the board.

The 20,000-square foot barn was initially planned to be constructed near the new ancillary services building within the city limits. The Tomball City Council, however, denied a zoning change request earlier this year by the district, forcing planners to look elsewhere for a suitable location.

Plans call for the Ag Barn now to be constructed on Shaw Road near the site of the district’s second high school.

Tomball Memorial High School, with its $59 million price tag, is currently under construction on Northpointe Ridge Road in the southern portion of Tomball outside the city limits.

The high school is the third school to be funded by the bond, following Canyon Pointe Elementary and Creekside Forest Elementary.

Located on 146 acres, Tomball Memorial is expected to enroll 2,500 students with capacity for 300 more. According to Tomball ISD, the new high school will include a competition basketball/volleyball court and an auditorium with about 800 seats. The site will also include a junior varsity football field, three practice fields and competition soccer, baseball and softball fields.

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