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The county will replace the aging fire alarm system for the Whitesville Road Gymnasium after it was deemed unsafe.

On Tuesday, Special Projects Manager Jay Anderson asked the Troup County Board of Commissioners to approve a contract with Siemens to replace the 20-plus-year-old fire alarm system at former Whitesville Road Elementary.

“It’s not really a choice,” Anderson said. “We have to have a fire system up and running to even occupy that building.”

The current fire alarm system does not appear to have been monitored since the school system moved out of the facility.

The county made plans to demolish much of the former school after taking over the building from the school system in 2021. The gym and a portion of the school will be kept for multi-use rooms, but the administration building that houses the controls for the current fire alarm system will be demolished.

“The good news is the skeleton is already there,” Anderson said. “All the wires throughout the building can be reused.”

All of the hardware will need to be replaced with new detection devices and notification systems. The gym itself will have a voice warning system directing occupants out of the building in the event of a fire alarm. The control system for the fire alarm will also have to be replaced and moved into the remaining structure.

The commissioners approved the contract with Siemens to replace the system at a cost of $34,003. Anderson advised that Siemens also installed similar systems at the Mike Daniel Recreation Center, Troup County Jail and the Troup County Government Center.

Parks and Recreation Director Lance Dennis advised that the gym currently gets a lot of use due to its large size. The county hosts basketball tournaments at the gym, along with youth basketball and volleyball activities.

The long-term plan for the facility is to create a soccer complex with two additional competition sized soccer fields.

Anderson said they plan to start bidding out the demolition within the next two weeks.