Lexington 2 eyes sites for art, career training centers

Lexington 2 officials are looking at converting the former Pair Elementary School into a fine arts center and putting a career training center between two other schools.

School Board members made no decision on the plan outlined Thursday.

The suggestion came as board members prepare to put the final touches on $225 million in school improvements.

Pair, converted into an adult education center in 2011, would first become temporary home for students from other schools undergoing extensive renovation before its transformation into an arts center in a few years.

A suggestion from consultants to squeeze the career training center in between Busbee Middle and a new elementary school planned at 12th and Taylor streets in Cayce surprised board members.

Superintendent Bill James called it an interesting idea that could work.

The sites proposed for both centers are one of many choices awaited, board chairman Bill Bingham said.

Minor renovations such as new roofs are under way at some schools, with major work on others scheduled to start next year.

The arts center is estimated to cost $11.4 million while the career training center is predicted at $26.5 million.

Both projects are part of the package approved by voters in the Cayce-West Columbia area at a referendum Nov. 4.

Other new facilities include two elementary schools slated to open in fall 2017 and fall 2018.

Renovations are ahead for every one of the district’s 16 schools, many of them built more than 50 years ago and the oldest in the Midlands.

Repairs will fix leaky roofs, replace outdated plumbing, wiring, ventilation and cafeterias as well as update technology and security.

School officials expect it will take at least five years to finish all projects.