Charleston S.C. – Oct. 2, 2018 – After yet another successful summer construction program, Charleston County School District (CCSD) and Cumming, an international project management and cost consulting firm, turned the schools back over to the students and staff in time for the start of the 2018-2019 year.
During this past summer break, a record-breaking 58 schools received improvements including, safety upgrades, restroom ADA upgrades, HVAC replacements, roof replacements, civil upgrades, exterior building repairs, and modular classroom installations.
“Every summer it is a strategically planned race to get all of the new builds, renovations or site updates completed within the short window before students show back up from break,” said Rick Holt, Vice President at Cumming. “This summer turned out to be more of a challenge than normal given the excessive amount of rain we received that delayed a lot of work, but we made it.”
In addition to the numerous districtwide improvements, the District 2 Regional Stadium in Mt. Pleasant was completed in time for this year’s fall athletic needs. The Stadium has seating for 6,000 spectators and is situated on a 15-acre site, which includes separate home and visitor restrooms, concession stands, team meeting rooms, a state-of-the-art press box and video scoreboard.
Holt continued, “Charleston County’s high standards for student education is reflected in the ongoing focus to provide facilities that encourage safety, creativity and educational growth.”
Cumming also finalized and bid out a majority of CCSD’s Phase IV Capital Building Program projects. These projects consist of three new elementary schools, two new middle schools, and a new high school. The total Capital Building Program is on schedule to complete all projects by the end of 2022 and have a total value of over $570 million.
All CCSD construction projects completed during the summer were funded by the local 1-cent Charleston County sales tax and local 8% financing, which the sales tax portion is currently projected to generate more than $650 million by 2022 allowing the District to stay ahead of projected growth, replace aging facilities and maintain current educational facilities.
Experts in educational project and cost management, Cumming’s South Carolina team has provided construction management services on behalf of CCSD for multiple building programs. Cumming oversees the District’s critical construction and renovation projects to make sure the programs stay within budget and adhere to the established timelines.
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