Andalusia Superintendent of Education Ted Watson is expected to ask the city council tonight to procure a $6 million bond for building projects at Andalusia High School.

The bond would be repaid with a portion of the half-cent sales tax collected by the city on behalf of Andalusia City Schools, and would be used to fund projects at the AHS auditorium and football complex that are expected to total $8 to $8.5 million. A fundraising committee has commitments for the difference in the cost of the projects and the amount expected to be financed.

In April, the board of education discussed extensively how much they should ask the city to borrow for the project. After getting cost estimates for the proposed building project, Watson recommended to the board Monday that they go with $6 million.

“Our goal here is not to see how much we can spend, but how much it is going to cost to get their projected funded in its entirety,” Watson said.

If the council agrees to procure the bonds, the board of education should be able to let bids in June and possibly begin turning dirt in July.

It is expected the auditorium and press box will be completed first.

The auditorium project includes demolition of the current stage area, expanding that end of the building, new seats, acoustical improvements and a new sound system, as well as new restroom facilities that would serve both the auditorium and the gymnasium.

The stadium includes a pressbox, new home bleachers, moving the field, and new facilities for softball and visiting players.

In other business, the board accepted Wyatt Saasser Construction’s low bid of $111,000 to replace the windows on the front of Andalusia High School.