Construction will soon be underway on a new safer front entrance for South County Technical High School, following unanimous approval by the Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen granting an amended conditional-use permit to Special School District for the 2,444-square-foot addition.

The board approved the amended CUP 6-0 at its Sept. 10 meeting. Ward 1 Aldermen Dee Baebler and Ann McMunn, Ward 3 Aldermen Nathan Lipe and Kurt Krueger, Ward 2 Alderman Steve Bersche and board President Mark Colombo voted in favor of the proposal.

Ward 2 Alderman Casey Wong was absent from the meeting and Ward 4 Alderman Thompson Price, who was present at the meeting, was absent at the time they took the vote.

The CUP permits South County Technical School, 12721 W. Watson Road, to build a 2,444-square-foot addition and replace an existing bus canopy at its location at 12721 W. Watson Road.

As part of the project, the school also plans a 1,400-square-foot maintenance shed that will be built on an old baseball field as phase 1 of the project, said Steve Quigley with Clayton Engineering.

Some small structures will have to be removed for the shed.

Once complete, the facilities department will use the building for storage and equipment maintenance. No additional landscaping or lighting would be required.

Phase 2 of the project, to be completed in 2021, includes a secured area addition to the school — the 2,444-square-foot expansion — along with an administration area remodel and a new bus canopy.

At the July 17 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Assistant City Planner Lynn Sprick said that South County Tech was seeking approval for all its proposed changes at once so it could avoid having to appear before the commission and Board of Aldermen for a second time when the school heads into Phase 2 of the project in 2021.

The commission unanimously voted to recommend the petition to aldermen.