By KATIE COLE / Lifestyles Editor

The Shelby County Board of Education approved a bid to create a new media center and additional classrooms at Calera Elementary School.

The school board voted unanimously in favor of awarding a bid to CLR Lovelady Construction of Selma, Ala., for $579,000 for the work.

Shelby County School Facilities Coordinator Randy Reeves said the project will convert the school’s old cafeteria, which was replaced in 2009, into a new media center. The current cafeteria, which was created from two classrooms, will be reverted back to classrooms.

“We hope that we will start … in early September and it will be finished in the spring,” he said.

In other business, the board also unanimously approved a $49,931 bid to Williford Orman Construction to correct structural issues with the support columns on the home side of the Vincent High School stadium.