After nine months of waiting, the Franklin County School System has been approved for $25 million to help rebuild Phil Campbell High School, which was heavily damaged in the April 27 tornado.

Superintendent Gary Williams said the state has agreed to pay the outstanding balance of about $13 million after insurance has dispersed approximately $7 million and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid nearly $6 million to help in the school’s rebuilding effort.

“That’s one reason this has taken so long — there are three pots of money,” he said. “We’ve already spent about $4 million on projects like repairing the football field, so now we’ll have about $20.8 million to rebuild with.”

Close to $2 million will go toward correcting a drainage problem that often leaves the football field flooded, Williams said, and another $1.5 million will go toward architect fees, leaving the physical school building with a budget of about $17 million to $18 million.

Williams said the state should begin dispersing funds in early March, and he hopes demolition on the old building could begin immediately afterward.

Initially, the state had hoped to repair, not replace, some of the damaged buildings, but since some of the oldest buildings date to 1941 with the newest built in the 1960s, Williams said demolition was the only acceptable option.

“The new building will have about 5,000 more square feet than the old one, but that’s just due to meeting the codes of today,” he said. “The hallways will have to be wider, for instance.”

The same types of buildings will be constructed, Williams said, but the footprint will not be the same.

However, not all of the hurdles all over, he added.

“Because three of the buildings are so old, FEMA has to conduct a historical study to see if there is enough significance there for them to be included in the historical registry,” Williams said. “If that’s so, some pictures will have to be taken and so forth, which could hold things up.”

If the schedule progresses like he hopes, Williams said, construction could begin in late fall.

“Once we get started, it should take 18-24 months to complete,” he said. “Maybe we can be up and running in the fall of 2014.”

Phil Campbell Assistant Principal Darit Riddle said after months of hearing rumors about what might happen, it’s great to hear verified facts.

“When Mr. Williams made the announcement that $25 million has been set aside for us, it was just great to know that we can finally see some progress,” he said.

Though they are excited to get back into a permanent building, Riddle said the faculty, staff and students have been making do holding class in temporary trailers.

“The first month of school we just had to get everything established, but now that we’ve been in school for awhile (the trailers) really haven’t been that bad,” he said. “It could be a lot worse.”

Both Riddle and Williams agreed: seeing the first bulldozer pull up to the damaged building will be a great day for the community.

“The school is the hub of any community, and it’s the same at Phil Campbell,” Williams said. “People want to see it built back. They’ve been relatively patient, but I think everybody already feels better now that we’ve gotten this promise.”

Hannah Mask can be reached at 256-740-5728 or hannah.mask@TimesDaily.com.