By Rebecca Gaunt

In a 5-2 vote, the Cobb County school board approved a $1.97 million contract with Woodstock-based NPSG Built to add parking at 440 and 460 Glover St., next to the district’s central office in Marietta. 

Becky Sayler and Nichelle Davis cast the opposing votes.

The three-acre site was once intended for a $50 million multipurpose event center, touted as a venue for graduations and academic events. That plan was scrapped in July 2024. A month prior to the district calling it off, a whistleblower leaked site plans revealing it was an 8,000-seat basketball arena to the parent-run financial watchdog group Watching the Funds. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale blamed inflation for the project’s cancellation.

Read more: Superintendent pulls plug on Cobb’s $50 million event center – Cobb Courier

The recent discovery that the district was seeking proposals for work on the site raised concerns from the public that the event center was back on the table.

“There is no plan now or moving forward for the multipurpose facility to be there,” said Ragsdale during Thursday’s discussion. He did not rule out the possibility that a similar project could be proposed elsewhere.

According to Marc Smith, the district’s chief technology and operations officer, the site improvement plans include more parking, improvements to the road frontage, and the removal of unusable structures and slabs. The project is funded by the districtwide building fund and has a projected completion date of January 2026.

Sayler questioned whether the money would be better spent elsewhere.

“My concern with taking on new construction is that I have a lot of constituents, parents, talking about consistent leaks in their children’s schools, schools that have their own work days for basic maintenance. So it seems like maybe we’re already stretched thin with the stuff that we have to address maintenance needs,” she said.

Ragsdale cited safety as the reason the work needed to be completed, saying it was “already late.”

“Last but not least, I want our campuses, whether it’s here or anywhere else, to look nice, and that looks like an outdoor house,” said board member Randy Scamihorn.

In closing, board member John Cristadoro asked Ragsdale to clarify that there was “no super secret, covert mission to put anything on this land as a result of this action.”

“No,” Ragsdale said.