Plans for improvements to Mineola High School band facilities took a step forward Monday with the approval of an architect for the project.

The school board hired Perry Thompson of the Thompson Architectural Group to oversee the project.

It includes adding a second band hall and renovations to the present band hall and the adjacent backstage area of the auditorium. The parking area in front of the elementary campus, next to the band hall, is also slated for expansion.

Thompson said the first step will be to seek a construction manager at-risk to construct the project, which will be done in phases to accommodate students and traffic. The selection should take 6-8 weeks.

He estimated actual construction would take seven to eight months.

The board also agreed to proceed with plans to clear some timber from school district property off Loop 564, east of Hwy. 37.

The district owns 127 acres, and an evaluation by Garrison McCord showed about 79 acres in pine stand that has some value.

He said the tract is an old stand of hardwood and pine. “You don’t see anything like this anymore,” he said.

The pine has commercial value, he said, but there is not much market for the hardwood.

Trustees discussed how much of the tract to clear, to avoid erosion and to leave a buffer where the land abuts residential areas.

The site was once mentioned as a possible location for a career and technical education regional center.