The new $50 million Lakeland Preparatory High School is ready to welcome students for classes Aug. 8.
Lakeland School System held a ribbon-cutting Saturday, July 30, to mark the official opening of the new school on schedule and just in time for the new school year.
“It’s a great day for Lakeland,” Board of Education Chairman Kevin Floyd said. “It was a journey to get here with a lot of hard work from a lot of people, and we’re really, really proud of the product.”
The 218,000-square-foot wing, which connects to the existing Lakeland Prep Middle School at 5020 Lions Crest Drive, features a two-story classroom section, courtyard, labs, varsity gymnasium, wrestling area, auditorium and fine arts facilities.
Also part of the project are new baseball and softball fields, track, home-side bleachers, football field house, baseball locker room, a multipurpose locker room and concessions for football and soccer.
“For many of us, this is a dream come true,” district Superintendent Ted Horrell said. “It’s fun watching the construction come together, but these buildings are built for kids and for the community to use, so for this to be the first time they get to see everything it’s just really, really rewarding.”
“I think it’s an amazing facility for education,” school board Vice Chair Laura Harrison said. “There are so many opportunities that I’m excited to see what our kids and our staff are going to do with it. When you walk in, it feels comforting and feels like home.”
Lakeland Mayor Mike Cunningham is happy see the project completed, especially considering that it had been such a divisive issue getting it financed and approved.
“I’m a firm believer … the true definition of leadership is the ability to get a diverse group of people to work towards a common goal, and I would like to think I had a part in that with the Board of Commissioners when we finally figured out how to get this built,” he said.
He sees the project, which used a USDA loan for financing, as a potential model for other cities the size of Lakeland that are looking to build something to meet the needs of their children.
“It’s absolutely amazing when you think of all the blood, sweat and tears it took to get here,” said Lakeland Vice Mayor Michele Dial, an educator at Bon Lin Elementary. “As an educator, it makes me really proud to have been a part getting it done.”
Horrell estimates final construction costs to be near $40 million, with another $10 million in furniture, equipment and architectural and design fees. Renaissance Group designed the project, and Chris Woods Construction handled the construction.
“It turned out better than I hoped,” Horrell said. “I feel that we were really smart with the dollars we had, and we’ve done everything that we could’ve done.”
“I think they have done such a wonderful job of really being thoughtful and intentional about what the students needs, and as a teacher I just really appreciate that,” Lakeland Prep fifth-grade language arts teacher Emily Glisson. “It just makes you excited to learn.”
Parents Allen and Sarah Gillespie came out for the event. Their son is entering eighth grade at the middle school this year and will attend the high school starting next fall.
“The new facility is very impressive, from the auditorium to the gymnasium to the science labs to the band room, it looks like it’s going to be perfect for a top-quality education,” Allen said.
A few punch-list items like painting touch-ups and waxing floors will be completed over the next several weeks, and some work still needs be finished on the external athletic facilities including sodding the baseball and softball fields and the band practice field.
Sometime in the next year, the district hopes to extend Campus Drive through to U.S. 70, a requirement that has to be met before the school starts 11th grade classes in the fall of 2024.