Southern Academy broke ground Friday, Sept. 4, on a $2.4 million academic building that will add four classrooms and two bathrooms to its Greensboro campus and double as a storm shelter.
The 5,500-square-foot building, designed by Ward Scott Morris Architecture, will connect to the Elementary Wing and occupy the southwest corner of the campus at Armory Street and Highway 14. It is being built to the ICC 500 standard, the International Code Council’s code for tornado and hurricane shelters.
According to the school, the building answers the two most immediate needs of the K-12 school: more teaching space to keep up with enrollment growth, and a safer place for students and faculty in a tornado-prone area.
WAR Construction has been chosen as general contractor, and site preparation will begin soon.
Friends of Southern Inc., a local nonprofit, has taken the lead on fundraising for the building, launching the Build Strong capital campaign this summer. As of Monday, Sept. 7, the campaign had raised $720,655 in donations toward its $2 million goal.
Southern Academy trustees, headmaster Bobby Beasley, Mark Lancaster and Frank Kelly of WAR Construction and architect Wally Burge of Ward Scott Morris attended the groundbreaking, along with students representing the SGA and the Elementary SGA and the varsity cheerleading squad.
Information on the project and on supporting the Build Strong campaign is available at SouthernAcademy.net/build-strong.
