The Gainesville City school board on Monday approved over $1.6 million for projects at Gainesville High School and Centennial Arts Academy. 

The projects are scheduled for completion by the end of summer. 

The bulk of the money, drawn from reserve funds, will go toward renovations at Gainesville High, including $1.2 million for furniture, fixtures and equipment at both the main building and the new three-story academic building scheduled to open in August. 

The board also approved $230,000 for luxury vinyl flooring in the main GHS building in classrooms, restrooms and some offices. 

An additional $100,000 will be used to renovate the restrooms at the Valentine Center weight room. 

“That allows us to have public restrooms … for the practice field,” said Adrian Niles, chief operations officer for Gainesville City Schools. 

Gainesville High’s 21-year-old elevator will also be replaced to the tune of $65,000. Niles said it is in dire need of repair. 

“As we've looked at it and looked at the number of times we've repaired it in the last three years or so, it's better for us to totally cut it out and install a whole new elevator,” he said. 

And no longer will soccer balls be lost forever when kicked over the fence on the field at Centennial Arts Academy. The board approved $40,000 in funding to build a net on the outside of the fence.