Heart Academy at Julian Newman Elementary, currently housed at Athens City Schools’ Clinton Street campus, sustained approximately $300,000 in damages in the severe storm that occurred Friday, July 21. The majority of the damage occurred to the gymnasium as winds tore off its roof allowing rain to fall inside the facility.

“Friday’s storm came in around 3 p.m. and blew off a large portion of the gym — nearly 11,000 square feet of roofing on the gym. Water was pouring in so the entire gymnasium was flooded, and it flooded some of the basements areas. We had two classrooms with a little bit of damage, but that is all taken care of now,” Athens City Schools Superintendent Beth Patton said.

Work began immediately after the storm to clean up the water. ACS’s crew used shop-vacs to remove as much water from the gymnasium floor as possible but more rain came. They then turned to a professional cleaning surface to assist in tackling the water.

“They came in around 9 p.m. that night, and they’ve been working since then. The fans are trying to dry everything out and just trying to make sure everything is as dry as it can be,” Patton said.

Temporary roofing has been put on gymnasium. Much of the old roof was blown onto the football bleachers next to the gymnasium but has since been removed.

The pre-bid for the new roof took place Monday morning and Patton hopes the bid opening will be Thursday. She is also hopeful that the work will begin immediately and the work to be completed in 30 days.