Richland 2 breaks ground on first new school since bond referendum passed in 2019
The Richland 2 school district has officially broken ground on a new school.
The $9.8 million construction of Center for Knowledge North in Blythewood officially began at a Tuesday ceremony, making it the first school to be built using the $467 million in borrowed money that voters approved in 2019.
The Center for Knowledge North, a school of 264 students, has existed since 2007, when the school board approved creating a new school. When the school was approved, the district did not have the money to build a new school so students have been housed in a series of manufactured buildings called “portables.”
“As we know today, being in portables is not a safe environment,” Richland 2 board chair James Manning said.
School safety was one of the driving reasons behind the district’s push to hold a bond referendum. Those safety concerns primarily focused on keeping dangerous people out of the school. However, safety concerns at school extend beyond that, something highlighted last week when a tornado struck a Kershaw County school and caused severe damage.
During the Tuesday ceremony, about six inches of grass and soil had been excavated from the site of the soon-to-be school. As the ceremony went on, construction equipment could be seen moving around in the background. Construction appears to be ahead of schedule. Richland 2 had originally planned to start construction in February, according to the district’s website. The website lists the school construction progress at 35%.
The school was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood and the contractor on the project is H.G. Reynolds, the same company that built Blythewood High School, which opened in 2005, according to the district’s website.
The groundbreaking is a breakthrough for Richland 2, which had faced delays in its first round of bond-funded safety improvements, according to a previous article from The State. The $467 million approved in the bond referendum will fund construction, maintenance and improvement of the district’s schools. Some of the improvements include new roofs, new sports stadiums, new buses, HVAC replacements and, in some cases, new schools.
The building is expected to be complete by the end of 2020, district spokeswoman Libby Roof said.
“We should all be proud of the opportunities we have provided for our students and for students in the future,” Superintendent Baron Davis said at the ceremony.