Some 300 days from now, the largest band in the history of Atlanta High School will do something it hasn't been able to do-practice in its own rehearsal room.
The 170-member Rabbit Band is too large to fit and rehearse in its current band hall.
On Aug. 23, the Atlanta Independent School District board accepted a $1.9 million bid from Altech Inc. of Texarkana to build a new band building.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Tuesday with construction expected to start the latter part of this month.
The 12,000-square-feet space will be approximately three times the size of the current space. The new facilities will be on the area behind the football stadium's athletic field house.
"Weather permitting, we should be in it next summer. We are excited. Been working on this for years," said Keith Sanders, band director.
The location is highly suitable, he continued.
"While we considered many ideas for placing the hall, the location will allow us just to step outside and be right at the grounds for our marching practice, which is the paved visitors' parking lot. We're also right at the football field, too, if we should need to go there."
That closeness increases the all-important practice time, he said.
The high school's music program involves some 35 percent of the student body, which is an exceptionally high figure, Sanders said.
"The average is 8 to 10 percent," he said. "Very few school districts can compare."
The cost of the new band hall is to be paid for by using funds from a property tax rate increase from $1.17 to $1.27 per $100 valuation approved last year by district voters.
Altech has previously done construction work for the AISD. The company built the Atlanta Middle School's athletic center.