Plans for 5 Schools Unveiled

Oct. 10, 2006 - Berkeley County school officials will use an "aggressive" time line in setting the construction schedule for a new elementary school in Cane Bay Plantation, and they hope the facility will be ready by August 2008.

That's the same time the nearby Cane Bay high school is scheduled to open, and there are advantages to completing the schools at the same time, said Ken Coffey, assistant superintendent for operations and facilities.

"If everything falls into place, it's possible," Coffey said. "With real hungry contractors, an elementary school could be built in 11 or 12 months. But we aren't guaranteeing anything yet."

The 700-student Cane Bay elementary school, located about four miles west of Carnes Cross Roads on U.S. Highway 176, is one of five projects funded as part of the school district's latest building program. In May, the school board approved $78 million in building projects and renovations funded through a controversial installment financing method.

The district also used installment financing, which relies on projected tax revenues rather than actual tax revenues, in 2003 to fund $143 million in building projects, including the Cane Bay high school and the new Daniel Island School. Those improvements came on the heels of a $192 million bond issue voters approved in 1999 that funded the construction and renovation of 17 schools.

The school board recently hired architects and construction managers for all five schools. According to Coffey, the Cane Bay elementary will be designed by Columbia architect Wayne Reed with the Ti Group, and construction will be overseen by the Southern Management Group. The school's cost is estimated at $19.1 million.

The developer of the 10,000-home Cane Bay subdivision, Ben Gramling III, said space has been secured to build a future middle school next to the high school and elementary school. Gramling, president of Gramling Brothers Real Estate & Development Inc., said he's confident the middle school will become a reality and that families will support three schools in such proximity.

In addition to the Cane Bay elementary school, major renovations at Westview Elementary and Westview Middle also are planned. Both schools are more than 30 years old, and equipment such as lights, doors, ceilings, plumbing and floors need replacing, Coffey said.

The project will add a multipurpose room, gym, cafeteria and roughly 20 new classrooms to Westview Middle. That school currently uses eight mobile units and 12 classrooms in the elementary building to handle an increasingly large student enrollment, and the new space will help rectify that situation, Coffey said.

The remaining two renovation projects will occur at the Berkeley Alternative School and at Howe Hall Arts Infused Magnet School. At the alternative school, a $3.3 million remodeling will include new air-conditioning, lights, windows, ceilings, doors, driveways and parking lots. A $7.1 million upgrade at Howe Hall, the district's popular magnet school built in 1954, will add a new front entrance way, a multipurpose room and student drop-off loop.

Reach Mindy B. Hagen at 937-5433 or mhagen@postandcourier.com.
Credit: The Post and Courier