Last spring Limestone Community High School began a 1.5 million dollar band and choir addition as part of a large 11 million dollar renovation project which also included HVAC and roofing. The band room is near completion.

To fund the renovations, Lchs passed a referendum in April 2021, “It was asking the community if they would support a bond and we went out and bonded 7.8 million dollars and will be paying it back over the next ten years,” said Dr. Allan Gresham, Limestone’s superintendent.  For the remaining budget costs, LCHS used 3.2 million dollars of  ‘covid money’ given by the state to the school.

Some highlights of the new facilities are the renovated choir room, additional storage for both band and choir, and tripled classroom space for the band program. Resolving the storage issue was a very important factor in the addition’s construction.  As a result, the original band room was converted into additional storage for the band. Limestone’s band director, Justin Bainter stated, “When you have anywhere between 85 and 125 kids, you have to have enough space to facilitate all of the instruments.” Other important factors were access to the outside as the previous band room only had a single door and making sure the room was acoustically appropriate for the band. 

Response to the new band and choir has been very positive from everyone involved in the band program. Students have more area to spread out and work in the new practice rooms. The new addition provides a much better learning environment for the students as concert season approaches.  It also offers better technology to display video and sound. Bainter shared, “I think it is something that’s been a long time coming with the size of the program compared to the size of the storage and educational area. It’s something that we are deeply grateful for the school to provide.”