Math, science school unveils unit’s redesign

HOT SPRINGS — The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has unveiled updated designs for the Creativity and Innovation Complex project set to break ground in the summer.

The 21,000-square-foot facility will be built along Whittington Avenue in front of the entrance to the school’s administration building.

Designs were adjusted from a previous $8 million project to the $4.5 million design in place.

Director Corey Alderdice said the project has been five years in the making and, with ground being broken in the summer, the building should be completed by early 2019. He made the remarks at the during the school’s annual Community of Learning Luncheon on Friday.

Paul Fredinburg addressed guests at the luncheon with his wife, Kathy. April 25 marked the two-year anniversary of the death of their son, Dan, who graduated from the school in 1999.

Dan Fredinburg was killed in 2015 at base camp of Mount Everest in an avalanche caused by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that claimed the lives of almost 9,000 people in Nepal and injured another 22,000.

The Dan Fredinburg Foundation made a gift of $50,000 to the school last year in his honor. More than $100,000 was raised through a series of gifts from his friends and family, as well as friends of the school, for construction of the complex.

The first floor of the building will be named the Dan Fredinburg Technology Center and will include three flexible classrooms, a a “maker-space,” an Innovation Lab, a computer science lab, a digital arts lab, a conference room and the school’s information technology services.

Paul Fredinburg said he and his wife made another gift of $25,000 to the school. The gift helped the school raise a total of $51,310 and qualify for additional matching funds from the Arkansas Community Foundation, First Security Bank and other organizations.