By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

New carpet will be installed in Thompson High School’s auditorium and a partial new roof will be finished at Thompson Intermediate School by the time students return to classes later this month.

During a special-called Aug. 1 Alabaster Board of Education meeting, Alabaster Schools Operations Coordinator Jeff Atkins gave board members an update on ongoing school renovation projects.

Atkins said the new carpet for the THS auditorium was delivered earlier than anticipated, meaning crews will be able to install it in time for the first day of school.

“They kept saying it wouldn’t be getting in before the start of school,” Atkins said of the carpet.

Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers said the district is planning to address seating in the THS auditorium soon.

Construction crews also are preparing to install a partial new roof at TIS, Atkins said.

“On Saturday, they will start taking the gravel off, and on Tuesday they will start installing the new roof,” Atkins said. “That will be through before school starts.”

The roof and carpet projects are among several other renovations the Alabaster School Board approved this summer.

Vickers said he has received compliments from Alabaster residents about the renovation projects.

“We’ve got a lot of projects going on,” Vickers said. “I actually had someone stop me in my neighborhood and say they’ve never seen the school grounds look as good as they do now at this time of the year.”