Liberty County is getting ready to welcome a new gymnasium to its recreation facilities.

County commissioners have set a ribbon cutting date of December 19 at 10 a.m. for the Sam Harris Gym, which is at the Liberty County east end complex. The complex itself is on the site of the former Liberty County High School, and the gym is the school’s old gym.

Harris, who passed away in 2020, was a longtime educator in Liberty County Schools. He was coach of the Liberty County High School boys basketball state championship team during the era of segregation and his LCHS boys team won the GIA Class A state title in 1965.

Pope Construction of Statesboro was awarded a $2.6 million contract in August 2022 to perform renovations on the gym.

Another building project, however, has its opening date still on hold. County Administrator Joey Brown said the final move in for the Miller Park Fire Station likely will not take place until February 2024.

Other projects are moving along. Brown said the architect for the new health department facility is meeting with the agencies currently housed there to see what their requirements are. The current health department, built in 1980, is 33,000 square feet. Its replacement, to be built on land adjacent to the National Guard armory, will be 44,000 square feet. The county bought six acres off Highway 84 last December for a new health department site. Also, the EMS training and administrative complex is in the design phase, and Brown said the county could get drafts back before the end of the month.