HAGERSTOWN, MD- After shopping around, Washington county officials finally decided which piece of land to buy for the construction of West City Elementary School.
"The board of county commissioners reviews that information and all the studies that have been done," says Joe Kroboth, director of Public Works for Washington County."Ultimately they approved the purchase for $1.5 million dollars to construct the new site."
It's located within the Hager's Crossing neighborhood, just next to the community center, behind Walmart.
They hope it'll provide the same close-knit community parent's were worried about losing.
"The proposed school is slated to be a three-round school therefore three classrooms for each grade level," says Kroboth. "The approximate capacity of the school is planned to be about 471 students and it's about a 64,000 sq ft site
The Hager's Crossing land was one of twenty two that were being evaluated. It's about 16 acres and county officials are saying it's the best site for the school.
"We also took into consideration factors that really don't have a tangible cost perspective but are important from the educational purposes such as safe routes to school so children can walk to school and it would be safe for them to do so," says Kroboth.
The site was identified to be the most desirable on the basis of 13 different factors. Some of which are acquisition costs, infrastructure and the true cost to develop the site.
This actually makes it $1.2 million dollars lower cost than the next most desirable site," says Kroboth. "There is tremendous leeway in negotiations to try to acquire the site."
County commissioners voted 3 to 2 Tuesday morning, for the Hager's Crossing site.
They're estimating construction of West City Elementary School to begin by 2014.
"The board of county commissioners reviews that information and all the studies that have been done," says Joe Kroboth, director of Public Works for Washington County."Ultimately they approved the purchase for $1.5 million dollars to construct the new site."
It's located within the Hager's Crossing neighborhood, just next to the community center, behind Walmart.
They hope it'll provide the same close-knit community parent's were worried about losing.
"The proposed school is slated to be a three-round school therefore three classrooms for each grade level," says Kroboth. "The approximate capacity of the school is planned to be about 471 students and it's about a 64,000 sq ft site
The Hager's Crossing land was one of twenty two that were being evaluated. It's about 16 acres and county officials are saying it's the best site for the school.
"We also took into consideration factors that really don't have a tangible cost perspective but are important from the educational purposes such as safe routes to school so children can walk to school and it would be safe for them to do so," says Kroboth.
The site was identified to be the most desirable on the basis of 13 different factors. Some of which are acquisition costs, infrastructure and the true cost to develop the site.
This actually makes it $1.2 million dollars lower cost than the next most desirable site," says Kroboth. "There is tremendous leeway in negotiations to try to acquire the site."
County commissioners voted 3 to 2 Tuesday morning, for the Hager's Crossing site.
They're estimating construction of West City Elementary School to begin by 2014.
