The Lexington School District 2 Board heard a plan, Thursday night,  that would move a proposed elementary school from Henbet Drive to 16.73 acres on Cougar Drive, across from Northside Middle School.

The K-5 school would combine BC Grammar School No. 1 students and students from Pineview Elementary School. The Henbet school would have also taken students from Saluda River Academy for the Arts (SRAA) but the new plan calls for an $8.5 million renovation and expansion of SRAA.

Board Member Cindy Kessler pointed out that after the site on Henbet was chosen to build an elementary school,  requirements from the S.C. Department of Transportation for road adjustments would have cost the district $6-to-$8 million. Cougar Drive would not require improvements, except for lane widening, said Todd Sease of Jumper Carter Sease Architects.

Thompson Turner Construction is the contractor working on the school. The plan that is being used for the Cayce Elementary School off of 12 Street Extension would be used on the Cougar Drive school. The estimated cost of the school would be $31.8 million.

If the construction schedule goes as planned, the school would be completed in August of 2018.

To get the acreage needed the district purchased three tracts of property along Cougar Drive in West Columbia that are adjacent to property already owned by Lexington 2, The three tracts combined provide the district with an additional 12.36 acres. This property, along with the 4.37 acres already owned by the district, will provide 16.73 acres to build a new elementary school.

The construction is being funded by the $225 million bond referendum that Lexington 2 voters passed in 2014.