The members of the Andalusia City Board of Education met on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the Andalusia High School football stadium renovation project.

Ground hasn’t been broken yet, but officials believe that it’s just around the corner.

Currently, the completion of the project is set for the opening of the 2018 football season.

“We have started working on the drawings and the civil engineers have come out and surveyed the stadium,” Architect Chuck Jones said. “One of the things that we will be doing is moving the field closer to the home stands and also moving it slightly to the east.”

One of the biggest projects of the renovation, will be the addition of a new press box and reserved seats.

“The press box will be located behind the current press box and it will be centered on the 50 yard line,” Jones said. “This will be one of the projects that we are able to start during this football season without being in the way.”

Jones said that the current plan is to begin working on the new press box and a few other things during the 2017 football season.

“The press box and the field house on the west end can both be started without getting in the way on Friday nights,” Jones said. “If we can get in there and start on those things during the season, we don’t just lose those three or four months. We won’t touch the field until the minute the last game is over.”

Jones said that the field wouldn’t take as long as the other parts of the project.

“The field will take roughly three months to put in place,” Jones said. “We will be putting down artificial turf for the playing surface. Building the press box and field house will take about nine or 10 months to complete.”

In addition to the press box and field house, the east entrance will get a renovation that includes a concession stand, ticket gate and restrooms on a circle pavilion on the east end of the stadium.

In the west end zone, another ticket booth, concession stand and restrooms will be included next the new field house.

The field house will serve as the a locker room for the Bulldog softball team and soccer team, and serve as the visitor dressing rooms during football season.