Final beam tops out new Watson Chapel High

With only the afternoon sun beaming down, the final beam topped out the long-awaited foundation to the new Watson Chapel High School campus Tuesday, still a year away from opening.

But students, staff and others in the Watson Chapel School District took a tour of the new digs after a big ceremony celebrating the final beam, adorned with a mini-evergreen tree and the American flag.

“Back in ancient days, they used it as a symbol to ward off evil spirits, because they thought a building couldn’t be taller than a tree in the forest,” said Bobby Gosser, Baldwin & Shell Construction Co. CEO. “Putting an evergreen on top, it becomes the tallest tree and then, therefore, it can fight off evil spirits.”

Most buildings were made of timber later on, Gosser further explained. To test whether the timber had dried off enough to enclose the building, the pine needles fell off, he said.

“The other part of that was, on a windy day like today, the pine tree would help them determine if it was too windy to crawl up on the roof to continue working,” Gosser said. “It was more of a functionality to the evergreen.”

The flag symbolizes the use of colored flags in the old days to indicate what material a business or family needed for building, Gosser said.

“That would let passers-by in the community know what process they were in the building to be able to lend a helping hand, because the communities are who built buildings back in the day,” he said.

The topping out completes another step in a process that began in August 2022 with the passage of a millage increase to raise money for a new high school, just one month into the hiring of Tom Wilson as superintendent. The new campus replaces a junior high school that was demolished by January 2024 after 78 years of existence.

Wilson, retired since July, came back to his alma mater and old workplace to see Watson Chapel take the next step, under his successor Keith McGee. But starting on construction didn’t happen right out of the gate, as the district had to secure other funds and mitigate construction costs.

“It’s hard to put it in words, but it’s like a dream come true,” WCSD Board President Mack Milner said. “We worked so hard on it. We would get so far, and it was like somebody knocked the feet out from under us. We would charge forward and get going forward again, and so to get to this point, we’re all very excited because now, there’s no stopping us. It’s going to come to pass, and we’re all so very excited not only for the school but the city.”

Watson Chapel High will be the first of two campuses in Pine Bluff set to open in 2026. Pine Bluff High School’s new campus on West 11th Avenue is also under construction thanks to a millage increase voters approved in 2023 and is expected to open by next summer, a few months after Watson Chapel.

McGee projects an April 2026 completion date, with move-in to begin either in May or June.

This was “probably” the first construction ceremony Jacob Oliva attended as Arkansas’ education secretary, he said. Oliva attended along with state Education Board member Lisa Hunter of White Hall.

“To top off a building takes many months and years of planning,” Oliva said, with band music in the background. “To get to this point, it’s really something great to be a part of. … It’s not something you get to do very often. It’s a big deal. This community made a commitment several years ago saying our students deserve the best, and today we’re able to deliver on that.”

Oliva’s attendance was a welcome sight for a district that is expected to complete a two-year accreditation probation the Education Board handed down in October 2023.

“What I find a lot of great respect in with their school district and the leaders and teachers is their commitment to students, and they know they want to do better,” Oliva said. “They’re willing partners in working with our agency (Arkansas Department of Education) and external operators to say, ‘How do we come together to deliver better and high-quality education for our students?'”

The ceremony wasn’t the first for McGee, who was superintendent in Helena-West Helena this time last year and had previously been a deputy superintendent in Little Rock and North Little Rock.

“It’s exciting to come and be able to be a part of this,” McGee said. “This experience to just build a new building, it’s quite exciting.”