One of the county’s oldest school buildings is being torn down to make way for a newer state-of-the art facility.
“Westmont was one of our older schools and, in order to provide our students with a larger state-of-the-art facility, we needed to make that recommendation. Like many of our newer schools, we wanted to provide a building that is not only state-of-the-art but is [also] large enough so that we can maximize our space. With our growth and our county, we certainly needed a newer facility because Westmont is small,” said Associate Superintendent Penny Jackson.
Located at 4558 Oakley Pirkle Rd., Westmont Elementary School recently celebrated 50 years.
Once demolition is complete, it will be another 90 days before sitework begins. Construction is slated to start in January 2023. Westmont should reopen in time for the 2024-2025 school year.
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Westmont is the latest elementary school being rebuilt. Past projects have included Evans Elementary, Martinez Elementary, Parkway Elementary, North Harlem Elementary and Grovetown Elementary.
The new school will be double the size of the original Westmont building, around 122,000 square feet. Updated features will include new technology, wider hallways, larger classrooms, art rooms, a gym, playground and a bigger media center. Around $35 million has been budgeted for the project which will host just under 900 students not including staff.
“We’ve made a few little cosmetic changes to make it run a little bit more efficiently, and so we had input from stakeholders, and we have tried to modernize it and keep up with the times with our facilities,” said Jackson.
The Columbia County school board held several meetings discussing community input on the new facility, and Jackson said many showed their support for the new elementary school.
“We could not have been more pleased with how the community responded. Mrs. Young, the principal of Westmont, was letting us know that they’ve always been such a close-knit family and we had a couple parent meetings with community input, and so they saw a need for a new facility,” said Jackson. “Staff and administration certainly recognized the need for some modernization. So, on one end, you’re sad to let a building with history go but, on the other hand, rolling out a new building for the community is important, and we were also able to share our thought process in relocating the students for the next couple of school years.”
During construction, demolition, and sitework, students and staff have been temporarily redistributed to various surrounding schools based on home addresses to make the transition smooth and painless as possible for the upcoming school year.
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Westmont’s teachers will be at Martinez, Brookwood, Lewiston and Evans Elementary.
Jackson said she hopes the new school building will cause students, parents, administration and staff to feel like a small community within itself which will bring everyone together more and encourage better communication. Jackson said the school board will continue to keep in mind stakeholder interests and what will best benefit the community as they make improvements to the facility.
“We’re at a point where we can [rebuild and upgrade schools] because of good planning. Our board does an excellent job with looking ahead and making sure we’re fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, but at the same time, that we’re keeping up with the times and making sure that our students and staff have the very best we have to offer for their education,” she said.
The Westmont Elementary Facebook page and website will update the public on construction progress as well as keep in contact with staff and parents throughout the project.
Liz Wright is a correspondent for The Augusta Press.
