Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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Heavy-duty hoses supply water, grease and other essentials at each lift location. The new garage can accommodate at least six buses at once.

At the school district’s new bus garage off Old Frankfort Pike, maintenance crews now have the latest, top-of-the-line technology at hand.

In addition to regular mechanical upkeep of school buses, these FCPS employees handle everything from glasswork to seat repairs. The new paint shop is a particular point of pride.

“You can drive a whole bus into the paint booth and paint it. It’s filtered and heated and everything,” said Frank Schaffer, shop supervisor at both the Miles Point Way site and at the Liberty Road garage.

“There are a lot of improvements as far as the space and area to work in,” he added.

For instance, the Miles Point maintenance building has additional lifts to accommodate a half dozen buses at once. That capacity will help facilitate the work flow since every bus must be fully inspected every 20 days.

John Kiser, the district’s transportation director, called the new garage “a fantastic improvement” over the Springhill Drive facilities.

He cited the state-of-the-art security system with surveillance cameras in the building and outside in the bus and employee parking lots, which are well-lighted.

Kiser also noted the garage has its own emergency generator system in case of power loss, and the site will have more direct access to Old Frankfort Pike once a connector road is finished.

The school district moved its buses moved from Springhill Drive to 780 Miles Point Way in late September to make room for a new stadium at Lafayette High School.

The general contractor has been on the site for several days, setting up work trailers and silt fencing for erosion control. Lars Finneseth, the stadium project coordinator, said demolition is expected to start this week. Both the old stadium and the old bus garage will be razed.

The new stadium is slated for completion in time for teams to take their home field next fall.