Second Presbyterian Church has filed a $15.8 million permit application with the city-county Department of Construction Code Enforcement for a 73,000-square-foot expansion to the church and Presbyterian Day School, which operates on Second’s campus at 4052 Central Ave.

The two-year project will bring 42,000 square feet of additional space for the school, 23,000 square feet of additional space for the church and 8,000 square feet of additional shared space, said Harold Ware, executive administrator for the church.

“The school’s going to have a new signature entrance and it’s going to have more visibility off Poplar, so a lot of this is for the school,” Ware said. “The church is kind of tagging along, doing some things we’d like to do while the construction is going on.”

Plans call for a new early childhood center for PDS and the renovation of existing school buildings. The expansion will bring a new gymnasium, “lifestyles” room, music room and dining hall to the school, and PDS’ library will be renovated.

The project wasn’t designed to accommodate more students at the school, whose enrollment is about 620. Instead, Ware said, the goal is to update its aging infrastructure.

“We started PDS in 1952,” Ware said. “It really hadn’t had a major renovation since these buildings were built. This is the first time we’ve had an extensive renovation of the school.”

Also included in the construction is a recreation field on the west end of the campus and a few new parking spaces. Ware said traffic flow through the campus also will be improved.

Site work has begun on the project, with completion slated for fall of 2010. The Crump Firm Inc. is architect for the project, and Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. is the contractor.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

A Toyota official speaking Thursday to The Associated Press says the company plans to shut down a San Antonio plant that makes the Toyota Tundra pickup for three months to reduce inventory and stop making pickups in Princeton, Ind. The Indiana plant will start producing the Highlander SUV.

The official asked not to be identified because a formal announcement from the Japanese automaker wasn’t expected until later in the day.

Toyota also plans to start producing the Prius hybrid in the U.S. for the first time at a plant it’s building in Mississippi.

Most importantly, the bill transfers $8 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund to ensure adequate resources are available to invest in highway infrastructure in 2009 at the levels assumed in the SAFETEA-LU law. The amount transferred is identical to the amount transferred out of the trust fund at the end of 1998.

Now that we have that out of the way, I figure it is time to let my vast readership know my thoughts on the most recent Amos Lee album - WOW! Very good stuff. In keeping with his earlier sounds, Amos has only developed as a writer. The sound are more mature and complex and he brings great diversity to the album. He shows off tremendous range on Won’t Let Me Go. The sounds of Jails and Bombs are just rich. But possibly my favorite track is The Street Corner Preacher. The blues melody, rich acoustic tones, and strong lyrics make this a highlight of the album. Way to go Amos, the new album was a great purchase.