School district buys bus complex in Lancaster

The Lancaster County School District’s Maintenance Department has a new home with the district’s purchase of the former Springs Transportation Department complex Feb. 6.
Meanwhile, the school board moved one step closer to making a new Indian Land elementary school a reality with a purchase contract for land for it.
LCSD Finance Director Tony Walker said the district closed on the 22-acre complex Feb. 6 for a bid of $650,000, which is $100,000 less than Springs Global’s original asking price.
Located at 1321 Springdale Road, Lancaster, the complex has several buildings, including warehouse and workshop space, offices and buildings suitable for storage, plenty of room for the district’s maintenance department and records storage.
“We’ll be able to combine everything we have for maintenance at that site,” Walker said. “We’ve been storing our records at the old Dobson Elementary School building and having trouble with the roof leaking and moving things around. We would’ve had to spend $500,000 just to repair the leaks there, so the complex was an answer to prayers.
“It’ll serve our needs long past my time here.”
LCSD Maintenance Director David Small said the two buildings the department plans to use will have a total of 30,000 square feet, including 19,000 square feet of space in the building that will house the maintenance department’s shop.
By comparison, the district’s current maintenance building on Chesterfield Avenue has only 6,000 square feet of space for 21 employees and 18 vehicles, Small said.
Small said it may be a few months before the department can move in. The first thing to be done, Small said, is to gather and sell the large amount of surplus truck parts and equipment that remain at the complex.
The next step, he said, is to make sure the shop is set up right.
“What we’ll do is separate it (the shop building) into workshop areas, HVAC, electrical, carpentry, storage and such,” Small said.
“We’re not used to having that much space, so we’re going to try to come up with a plan so we don’t have to backtrack once we start setting it up,” he said. “It’s like moving into a new home; we’re going to take our time and make sure to set it up so it suits us when we move in.”
Possible new school site
In another major development for the school district, the school board signed a purchase contract and placed a $60,000 retainer on land for a new elementary school in Indian Land.
The move, which came during the school board’s planning session Feb. 3-4, paves the way for much-needed relief for the district’s largest elementary school.
“I think it’s great news,” Superintendent Dr. Gene Moore said. “This really kind of continues to move us forward in the process to get a new school built in Indian Land to relieve overcrowding in the current school.”
The 26.5-acre property is located on Harrisburg Road, about 1.5 miles north of S.C. 160 across from the BridgeHampton neighborhood.
School board members unanimously approved the potential $1.1 million purchase from former Indian Land County Council and school board member Stanley Smith. The property has an appraised value of $1.4 to $1.5 million.
Walker said the retainer will hold the property while state-mandated testing, studies and other preliminary requirements are met, a process that may take several months.
“If everything checks out, and assuming everything works out with the state, the sale will go through,” Walker said.
School board members approved $1.5 million to fund site selection for the estimated $15.1 million project during this year’s budgeting process in June.
The board is considering architectural firms to lead the project and may make a decision on the matter as early as its Feb. 20 meeting.
Moore said it may be December or January before work can start on the site.
“I’m thinking with about a year and a half construction time, it puts us opening about the 2014-2015 school year,” Moore said.