Johnston County School Facilities Services

Front Entrance

In September of 2005, the Johnston County Board of Education purchased an existing warehouse to serve as the new home of the school system’s Facility Services.

This facility replaced an old building that had been used first as a bus garage and later as the maintenance facility since 1926.

The new facility has 75,000 square feet with heat, a/c, and a sprinkler system, and sits on 7 acres of property. The purchase price was $1.8 M which came from local bond funds. The maintenance employees were given 90 days to build the offices, storage cages, and meeting spaces in order for the Board of Education to hold its December 2005 meeting in this new facility, complete with an open house.

The staff worked very hard to accomplish the task of completing this project while maintaining their very strict schedule of service to 42 other sites. The complex includes areas for Maintenance, Child Nutrition, Printing Services, and Video Production. There are four smaller out buildings which serve as the system’s main cooler/freezer storage, dry storage, lawn mower storage, and auto mechanic’s shop.

Down Town was created to house the separate departments which encompass the maintenance corps. The theme of a town is evident with the style of the shops, the stoplight, fire hydrant, street lights, post office, Back Door Café, and the Alley. Two large loading docks compliment the entire facility.

Town Hall, the main meeting space, is a curtained area that can accommodate up to 250 people for dinner and 300 for a meeting. It is used only at the direction of the superintendent and is not available for rent. The curtains were installed rather than walls so that in the case of an emergency such as a hurricane or some other disaster, the curtains could be opened and trucks or other equipment could be utilized in this space. Within Town Hall are coats of arms on shields that represent each of the schools in the county. The superintendent has used this space for special receptions and banquets. It is also the site for Facility Services’ monthly house meetings and team building activities.

The employees who work in this building continue to maintain this facility in tip-top shape on a daily basis, giving extra attention to it every Wednesday morning, and often give tours to other school systems and agencies. We are constantly asked where our design came from, and we are very proud to say that it grew out of the imagination of our employees. They dreamed it, drew it, and built it.