New Holt High School Debuts in Alabama

By Roxanne Squires

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After facing heavy rains and construction delay; the long-awaited Holt High School can finally welcome students and teachers to its new facility.

Working under a budget of more than $18 million, ground broke on the new 114,000-square-foot Holt High school in July 2017 to replace what was the oldest school in the Tuscaloosa County School system.

As board members originally hoped for construction to reach completion in time for the start of the 2018-19 school year in August, architect Ward-Scott Architects and the construction manager, Hall-Taylor Construction had to work around weather delays, planning postponement for the team to finish the project by the new January semester.   

The new Holt High School opened its doors to students for the first time on Nov. 13, 2018. The new school is designed for a capacity of approximately 500 students. The facility also features technological updates that were not possible in the older building, which endured a heater malfunction that forced many of its over 400 students to leave school early back in January 2018, according to Tuscaloosa News.

The new high school offers a career tech center, administrative and counseling suites, band/choral/fine arts rooms, new technology and more.

The design of the school features purple glass, as a reference to Holt High’s school colors. There are exposed steel beams throughout the school, to represent the Holt community’s tie to the steel industry.

The flooring of the main hall features a river design, torepresent the Black Warrior River. The new school replaces the former Holt High School, which was built in 1944.

Holt High will still use the football field and some other athletic facilities at the old location with possibility to sell the property in the future.

Reports from Tuscaloosa News and the Tuscaloosa County School system contributed to this story.