Early voting starts today to decide whether Thrall should issue $2.73 million in bonds to pay for renovations in the district.

It has been 16 years since Thrall last had a bond election, and Superintendent Tom Bowman said facilities on the kindergarten- through-12th-grade campus need improvements.

Early voting continues until Sept. 23 in the 510-student district.

Election day is Sept. 27.

The bond money would be used to pay for 12 new classrooms in a primary school wing, an athletic complex, a cafeteria and a band hall.

The existing band hall and cafeteria would be converted to classrooms for secondary grades.

Bowman said the athletic complex would include an eight-lane track, a football field, bleachers, a concession stand and a field house. Distance runners now train on the city's streets, and the student population has outgrown the field house dressing rooms, district officials said.

The bond proposal is the largest ever in Thrall, a mostly rural town about 45 miles northeast of Austin.

Bowman said the community has reacted positively to the bond proposal. ''I think primarily because we have been debt free for a number of years,'' he said. ''These are the first improvements of significance in a number of years.''

A 1981 bond issue for $350,000 paid for the construction of the elementary and middle school buildings now used for grades four through eight.

Bowman estimates about 500 people voted in the 1981 election and expects about the same number to turn out for this month's election.

If the bonds pass, construction could begin as early as January, he said.

(From Box)

Voting sites and times

Voting times and locations for the Thrall Independent School District bond election.

EARLY VOTING

Today-Sept. 23, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thrall High School administrative office, 200 Bounds St.

ELECTION DAY VOTING

Sept. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thrall High School library, 200 Bounds

St.

DT Status: ADD