Author: Whitney Latham

New Park is happy to welcome Excel Construction and Elegant Homes, LLC to their Builder’s Guild.

Robert Nelson, founder and CEO of Excel Construction and Elegant Homes has been in the home building and remodeling industry for 30 plus years. Excel Construction focuses on custom design and unmatched quality. Excel Construction has built an outstanding reputation based on attention to detail and exceptional customer service. The company’s philosophy of building a spacious, family-friendly,yet comfortably stylish home at an affordable price has everything to do with you, the customer. The company’s dedication to excellence is shown in the many neighborhoods they have built in across Alabama and the Southeast. Everything Excel Construction does comes down to one basic principle: When you care, it shows. One of their greatest rewards is contributing to a family’s joy on the memorable day they move into their NEW home.

Excel Construction’s four commitments to their customers are Uniqueness, Style, Choice, and Value.

Elegant Homes is a builder of quality homes. With Elegant Homes’ built to order experience, their customer will enjoy high quality construction, unique architecture, dedicated customer service and design features that all come together to create your one-of-a-kind home. Elegant Homes are eye-catching and luxurious: each has the “WOW” factor to impress any buyer.

Elegant Homes mission is to provide the highest value through leading design and technology, experienced leadership and quality workmanship. It’s a buyer’s market – but it may not last for long. That’s why RIGHT NOW is a fantastic time to BUY or BUILD and “Elegant Home” and get the absolut best deal for your money.

Elegant Homes is a member of the Greater Montgomery Home Builder’s Association.

The proposed zoning for Park Crossing High School, set to open for the 2013-2014 school year, was discussed during a called meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education on Friday.

The boundary for the proposed zone in the eastern part of the county would run north from the Montgomery/Pike county line along Hobbie Road to Woodley Road.  It then would run northeast to Troy Highway, then northwest to Taylor Road, then north to Taylor Road, then north along McLemore Road to the northern Montgomery/Elmore county line, according to information provided by Montgomery Public Schools.

A map of the proposed school zones will be available online at www.mps.k12.al.us.

The schools impacted by the proposed Park Crossing zone are Robert E. Lee High School and Jefferson Davis High School.  It’s estimated about 290 students combined could come from the two schools.  Superintendent Barbara Thompson said officials estimate the school will have 400 students, making up 9th and 10th grades, during the first school year.

Park Crossing will add 11th grade in 2014 and 12th grade in 2015.  It’s estimated that at that time the school will have about 1,100 students, according to MPS.  An additional pod, or hall, might be added, if needed in the future, to bring the capacity to 1,600 students.

A public hearing on the proposed school zoning changes will be held at 11:30 a.m. April 9th in the auditorium of the school system’s central office, 307 S. Decatur St.  The board is expected to consider the proposal at its April 23rd monthly meeting.

Also during Friday’s meeting, Rocky Smith was announced as Park Crossing’s first principal.

“I am impressed with Mr. Smith’s enthusiasm and his dedication to students,” Thompson said in a prepared statement.  “His experience and commitment to excellence is just what is needed to launch this new school.”
Smith has worked as a teacher, coach, athletic director and assistant principal for MPS for more than a decade.  His most recent assignments were as assistant principal for both Loveless Academic Magnet Program and Booker T. Washington magnet high schools.

“We are very excited about Park Crossing’s opening,” Thompson stated.  “The school’s design will have a college campus feel.  The students, faculty and parents will find this school an inviting and vibrant learning experience.”

This article was written by Matt Okarmus for the Montgomery Advertiser March 23, 2013.

Three schools and one in the making are reaping the benefits of the recent opening of Park Crossing in east Montgomery.

Deputy Mayor Jeff Downes called the three-mile corridor that connects Ray Thorington Road and Taylor Road a safer, more convenient travel option.

Its opening affects the traffic of Wilson and Blount Elementary schools and Carr Middle School.  Park Crossing High School, which is scheduled to open in 2013, is also located on the new road.  The new road overrides the portion formally known as New Park Drive.

Downes said the city has big hopes for the area after a University of Alabama study projected 25,000 people will move into the are in the coming years.

“That’s like picking up the city of Prattville and sitting it in east Montgomery,” he said, calling the development one of the city’s next greatest projects.  “It will be a very attractive road that all of Montgomery will be proud of.”

Although public access is now permitted, the road is not complete.  The public-private partnership project involves the city and local developers Aronov, Alfa, Wilson, and Hampstead.  The road will feature pedestrian and bike routes that promote safe and healty lifestyle choices for the residents of the projected 13,500 dwelling units.

Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Thompson said it will take a few years to see what the growth will require of the school district, but she projects a new elementary and middle school will eventually be needed.  Wilson, Blount, and Carr have all nearly reached capacity.

For now, the road opening means a time and gas savings for families who live on Taylor Road, as well as the school district.

“It should take care of a lot of the traffic we currently have trying to get their kids to (those schools),” Thompson said.  “It will save a lot of people a lot of time.”

Upon completion, Downes said the corridor’s price tag will be nearly $7 million dollars, nearly 80 percent of which developers will reimburse the city.  He said the infrastructure matched with the area’s projected growth equals a recipe for success and rapid economic development.

This article was written by Tiffany Nabors for The Montgomery Advertiser October 9, 2012.

Think Park Crossing Thunderbirds has a nice ring to it?

The committee tasked with establishing a name and mascot for the new east high school does.  That’s what they intend to recommend to the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The committee, which met for the second time Monday, selected Park Crossing High School as the potential name for the new school since it reflects the area but does not reference a specific neighborhood.

The nickname Thunderbirds was selected because of the strength it projects, but also as an homage to the military.  Officials envision the mascot as a bird or eaglelike creature, but it also could reference the squadron of the Air Force.

A Thunderbird is defined as “a bird that causes lightning and thunder in American Indian myth.”

“It is strong, powerful,” board member and committee chairwoman Melissa Snowden said of the Thunderbirds, adding the nickname will help people to think of the Air Force and what a strong presence the military has in the area.

The $23 million high school, and the first new one to be added to the school system’s roster in decades, is expected to open in fall 2013.  The naming committee held its initial meeting in February.

Snowden also was looking at how the nickname could potentially motivate students, saying, for example, the Thunderbirds could be “soaring to new heights.”

The committee’s decision to use a location-based name and military theme was unanimous.  The school colors also will reflect that theme.  The group proposed navy blue, silver and red.

“We’ve lost the military schoolkids to Prattville,” said city councilman and committee member Charles Jinright at the meeting’s start.  He added that officials should attempt to bring those families back.

The next stepin the naming process will be for the committee to make its formal recommendation to the school board April 12th.  Superintendent Barbara Thompson can accept the committee’s recommendation or make her own, and that likely will come before the board April 24th.

Before the consensus Monday, the committee ruled out several options, including Taylor Field High, which was discussed at the initial meeting.  It was ruled out because its meaning might be obvious to those outside Montgomery.

Taylor Field was Montgomery’s first military flying installation and training field during World War I.

Board Vice President Eleanor Dawkins, who is also on the naming committee, said the Park Crossing Thunderbirds has a nice ring to it.  Plus, she said she couldn’t picture all the other options.  “I can see this clearly,” she said.

Article written by Annie McCallum of The Montgomery Advertiser.

For the complete article on The Montgomery Advertiser’s website, please click the link below:
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20120320/NEWS/303200010/Park-Crossing-Thunderbirds-suggested-new-school

It is only a two-mile segment of roadway, but this short road could represent a shortcut to a new high school and an explosive development that Montgomery officials envision for this portion of east Montgomery.

From the vantage point of today’s struggling economy, it is difficult to imagine that new residential developments with the potential to accommodate 27,300 people at full build-out would be successful.  City officials said they see the risk, but at the same time, they are focused on the potential — including the construction of a public high school.

“It’s just one of the risks that you take on, but it’s a manageable risk,” Mayor Todd Strange said Thursday.

The $6.7 million road project, more commonly known as the “connector road,” started this week, with W.S. Newell as the contractor for the construction work.  The road, which will become known as Park Crossing, will start on Taylor Road next to the Hampstead development and connect to Ray Thorington Road.

“We should start seeing visible progress weekly,” Deputy Mayor Jeff Downes said recently

Over time, the four land owners in the area, Vaughn Road Developers, Wilson, Lowder and Alfa, will repay 80 percent of the connector road’s costs to the city as they begin to develop their properties.  The city will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent, or $1.3 million.  The total cost of the project is $6.7 million, of which $5.6 million will be construction.

Ultimately, the total developer contribution would be $5.4 million.  Wilson, which has already constructed a portion of the road on the Ray Thorington Road side, would pay the largest share, or $2.6 million.  Alfa would pay $1.07 million; Vaughn Road Developers would pay nearly $1 million; and Lowder would pay $750,000, according to the base contract agreement.  The repayment cost is based on acreage.

This is one of the projects funded through the city’s $67.5 million bond issue.  If the land is not developed, the city does not recoup that $5.4 million.

Downes acknowledged that the road would not artificially change the current sluggish residential growth, but he said the thought is that this would at least offer the opportunity for growth.

Strange said Thursday that even if the area does not develop, at least the road would improve the traffic flow.

A city within a city

There are nearly 4,000 acres of land that sit off of Taylor Road like a mostly untouched, undeveloped island.  Most of the land is accessible only by foot.

But city officials see this as one of the next growth spots of the city — and some would even argue that it is the next big thing for the city.  The area is next to a mixed-use development, Hampstead, that has offered a different lifestyle for Montgomerians who embrace the ideals and close quarters of new urbanism.

City officials believe that it is conceivable that in the next 15 years this land could be home for 11,880 new houses and an additional 27,300 people.  an economic impact study for the road supports that belief.

“If you took Prattville, picked it up and put it in southeast Montgomery, that’s what it is,” Downes said this week.

Downes added that this project allows for “logical, rational planned growth that would otherwise inch along at a very slow pace.”

The connector road idea is not a new one.  Former Mayor Bobby Bright wanted the road constructed when he was in office, but attempts to pull it off at the time were unsuccessful.  The difference now is that the city is willing to front the costs and allow the developers to repay the city later.

“By building it all at once, you open the area up for multiple developments and open the area for diverse developments, whether it be commercial or residential,” Downes said.  “And you improve the speed of all this development, and finally, you improve the traffic flow.”

“This really addresses many concerns of the area and (enables us) to have it done relatively quickly and at once instead of incrementally.  It makes a lot of sense,” Downes added.

A public high school

The growth in Montgomery has been occurring in the eastern part of the city for several years, but just how drastic that growth actually was did not become truly apparent until the U.S. Census numbers were released this year.
Because of dramatic growth in east Montgomery over the past decade, there is a disproportionate number of residents in several of the districts.  In the most extreme cases, District 4 in west Montgomery has 15,258 residents, or 7 percent of the total population, and District 8 in east Montgomery has 31,683, or 15 percent.

Members of the Montgomery County Board of Education did not need the new population date to understand that a new high school was needed in east Montgomery.  The board has been working seriously on the high school project since last year, and now funding has been identified and a site selected.

Now that contruction has started on the Park Crossing, the work should be completed within a year.  That means, the road could be finished just one year before Montgomery Public School officials hope to open the new high school.

The school would be off of Park Crossing and back up to Hampstead.  Once completed it would be about 13 miles away from the future site of the public high school in Pike Road.  At this point, Pike Road intends to open a kindergarten through eighth grade school in the fall of 2015 at the Waters, a mixed-use development; it plans to add a high school within eight years.

Board president Charlotte Meadows said current plans for the new high school are to have the core of the building — i.e. the office, cafeteria and gym — created for 1,500 students and classrooms built to accommodate about 800.  That way the school is positioned for future growth.

If growth happens faster, Meadows said, officials will have to figure out how to pay for additional space.

Article written by Jill Nolin of The Montgomery Advertiser

For the complete article on The Montgomery Advertiser’s website, please click the link below:
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011108020313

Registration for Montgomery Public Schools pre-kindergarten programs started Monday and will continue for the next couple weeks. Students may attend the pre-k program at the site where their zoned school is clustered. Parents can find that information by logging onto the Montgomery Public Schools website.

There is a pre-k site located at Wilson Elementary School, but because it is not a Title I school, it requires an application. Applications for that program must be turned in by June 27th. A drawing for the 18 pre-k positions at Wilson will be at 11 a.m. June 29th.

Fitness balls instead of chairs, time in the garden and not just the classroom, and lessons that incorporate nutrition are all part of a collaborative effort at Wilson Elementary School focused on helping students make healthy choices.

Several area groups – Baptist Health, the Alabama chapter of the Institute for America’s Health and Bonnie Plant Farms – have programs in place at the school for the first time this year to help students stay active during the day and learn about exercise and healthy eating.

Officials held a news conference at the school Thursday to showcase the programs and explain how healthier students will make for a healthier community.

“I think it’s important to have it incorporated throughout the school day,” said Natalie Steed, Institute for America’s Health Alabama statewide coordinator, said it’s important to have health and fitness lessons incorporated throughout the day.  “They learn better, they perform better and they feel better.”

Steed’s organization provides Wilson, and Crump Elementary School, with the WAY to a Healthier Alabama program.  WAY, which stands for Wellness, Academics and You, is a set of classroom resources aligned with core subjects that provide “health and wellness messages.”  The free program is paid for with contributions from the state education department and others.

For example, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers educate students about nutrition labels during math lessons on percentages, which are part of the math curriculum.

She said students learn math and nutrition information, seeing firsthand how things they learn in school are applicable to real life.

Steed and other officials hope that students will learn to make good choices about food and exercise and take that knowledge home with them.

Officials said that with Alabama’s obesity rate among the highest in the nation it’s never been more critical to spread information about living healthy.

Wilson Principal Janine Brouillette said it’s important to give students healthy choices and that’s just what the programs at her school do.

“Students now instead of getting outside and excercising they are glued to games,” she said.  “It’s important to teach (healthy choices) because they are really not used to it.”

For example, the school’s newly created outdoor classroom includes beds to plant vegetables and herbs, which students later will eat at school or take home.  Bonnie Plant Farms is helping with some of the materials, and officers from Maxwell Air Force Base’s Gunter Annex recently helped build the beds.

“If they are actually involved in growing the food they are likely to eat it,” she said.

In addition to the healthful outdoor classroom and daily wellness lessons at Wilson, the school also is utilizing WittFitt exercise balls.

Inside a computer lab at Wilson, a group of students stared intently at their computer screens Thursday, but instead of sitting in front of the screen on a chair, students sat on an exercise ball, some gently bobbing up and down.

Baptist Health purchased and donated about 40 balls to the school at $40 a piece in January.  Robin Barca, Baptist Health chief operating officer, said the balls are made specifically for students to use in class and even have little feet on the bottom to prevent students from toppling over.

Barca said the balls not only give students constant exercise that will tone their core, but they’ve also been proven to help students concentrate.

“I think all of us are concerned about the growing trend of kids becoming sedentary,” she said.  “We have to think of innovative ways to be active.”

Article written by Annie McCallum of The Montgomery Advertiser.

For the complete article on The Montgomery Advertiser’s website, click below:
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110311/NEWS01/103110308/Students+have+a+ball+with+new+fitness+programs

To view photos, click below:
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery

More than 80 dedicated athletes of all ages wouldn’t let a continuous downpour slow them down Saturday morning as they splashed through puddles and cycled their way around an east Montgomery course.

The New Park Family Duathlon was held under monsoon-like conditions at the James W. Wilson, Jr. YMCA, but directors said the only thing to stop it would be lightning.  That didn’t happen and every body crossed the finish line in soggy fashion.

Event coordinator Greg Miles alluded to a familiar phrase usually reserved for mail carriers when he said “neither rain, nor wind, nor cold” could keep the participants from completing the course.

Add those factors together, he said “and you have an almost insurmountable hurdle, but all perservered and finished the race.”

“Endurance events are difficult to begin with, but when you have the conditions we have here this morning, they only add to the challenges,” said Miles, who kept tabs on the runners in a cart and made sure everybody was OK.

Because of the downpour that began before the start of the race and did not let up, Miles said some runners took off their sneakers because they had been soaked and only added unwanted weight.

He said the races are charity events to help KidOne and the YMCA Partner with Youth Campaign.

“The events are for both adults and children and are focused on fun as much as fitness,” he said, adding that one reason for the races is to fight obesity.

In addition to the runs that kicked-off and finished the event, a bicycle race was sandwiched in between the two.

Andy McElvaine finished as the overall winner in the male division, while Mary Robins dominated the women’s division.  Each received $200 gift certificates from Montgomery Multisport.

Most of the runners waited under a tent until it was time to walk to the starting line, but got wet anyway when part of it collapsed because of the heavy puddle on top.

Miles, who cheered his two daughters – Presley and Sailor – as they completed the course, said it was the first in a series of four endurance events that Montgomery Multisport is putting on for the 2011 season.

In the youngest division, Nick Dudle took first place in the male-under-6 division followed by Norris Pemberton and Eli Negro.

In the female division, Presley Miles was first, followed by Keagan Wendling and Sarah Johnson.

Written by Alvin Benn of The Montgomery Advertiser

For the complete article and pictures, click below:
www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article

The New Park Family Duathlon at the Wilson YMCA on Ray Thorington Road is Saturday, May 15th at 9 a.m.

he adult distance is a 2-mile run, a 10-mile bike, followed by another 2-mile run. The kid’s distance (age 12 and under) is a 1-mile run, a 4-mile bike, followed by a half-mile run. Spectators are encouraged, and volunteers are needed. Prizes include $250 for top male and female in the adult class. Top male and female youth get a Wii System. Trophies, medals, race tee shirts, etc. Parents may do the kid’s distance with their children. So come out, grab a hot dog and watch the race!

New Park, the city’s newest neighborhood in East Montgomery off Ray Thorington Road, is pleased to announce that Alabama Power is partnering with Hugh Cole Builder, Inc., in constructing the City’s first ENERGY STAR home in New Park, which will feature high energy efficient heat pumps and a Marathon electric water heater. Other energy efficient features are increased wall, ceiling, and attic insulation and proper sealing of all exterior penetrations such as plumbing and electrical work.

Trenholm State Technical College students get hands on experience at Montgomery’s VERY FIRST ENERGY STAR home in New Park. ENERGY STAR, a U.S. Department of Energy Program, is a new home that is rated and verified to be 15 percent or more energy efficient than standard construction.

Guided by their instructor, Shon Richey, the students are taking part of installing an advanced air sealing package as part of their Home Energy Efficiency and Solar Systems Program.  This program offers stand-alone, non-credit, full-time training in heating & air conditioning (HVAC), electrical technology, and building construction in classrooms and labs at Trenholm State.

This electric ENERGY STAR home built by Hugh Cole Builder, Inc. in New Park, will be featured in the Greater Montgomery Homebuilder’s Parade of Homes.  Please stop in for your energy efficient tour.  This property is listed by Kelly House at Aronov Realty at 334-399-9500.

Visit https://www.energystar.gov/ for more information about ENERGY STAR.