VIDALIA — A $2.2 million gym capable of housing 700 people could be ready for Ferriday Junior High School students as early as the fall of 2014.

The Concordia Parish School Board voted Thursday to approve preliminary studies for the construction project, which will be done by Barron, Heinberg and Brocato Architects and Engineers of Alexandria.

Joe Brocato, a partner with the firm, presented an illustration of the project and answered questions from several board members about the appearance of the building.

Brocato said the gym would be a metal frame building with masonry walls inside as well as a gym floor for sporting events. In the initial plans presented Thursday, a synthetic floor would be used for the basketball court surface.

Board members Fred Butcher and Gary Parnham expressed concerns about the synthetic floor being used in a gym that would be hosting numerous basketball games.

“Some floors aren’t good for basketball,” Parnham said. “If it’s not going to be beneficial for basketball, you don’t have to put it in.”

Brocato said he included synthetic floors because of they are easy to maintain.

“I prefer the hardwood floors, but it is a maintenance headache,” Brocato said. “We can find out where (synthetic floors) are used and tour those gyms.”

The approval Thursday night allowed the firm to begin studies at the site as well as to prepare architectural plans, Superintendent Paul Nelson said.

Brocato said the plans would be completed by July in order to open the bidding process for construction in August.

“Actual consideration would be soon after school starts, but it should not interfere greatly with the school,” Brocato said. “There will be the dust and noise, but it’s kind of isolated.”

Nelson said the board would need to approve the construction bids on the project again this summer before construction begins.

In other news from the meeting:

•The board approved a five-year contract extension with Durham School Services, the company that currently handles the district’s transportation.

Since the district reopened the former Ridgecrest School site as the Concordia Parish Academy of Math, Science and Technology magnet school, Nelson said the bus routes the district currently runs can be hectic at times.

The magnet school can draw students from the entire parish and also provides transportation for those students.

“We’re actually running the most complicated transportation routes we’ve ever run,” Nelson said. “They’re covering probably close to 30 routes throughout the district, and we need to continue that good relationship with (Durham).”

•The board approved sending an application to the state bond commission to call an election to renew a 10-year, 13-mill property tax.

Nelson said those funds are used for construction projects at schools throughout the district. In the past they have paid for projects at Ferriday Lower Elementary, Monterey High School and Vidalia Upper Elementary, among others.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of public support for these kinds of things,” Nelson said. “We’re not asking for any additional monies; we’re just asking to renew this funding.”

If approved by the state bond commission, the renewal would be put on the election ballot on Saturday, Oct. 19.