Cool Spring Elementary is back in business–and it’s beautiful!
Late last month, Iredell-Statesville Schools officially re-opened Cool Spring Elementary School, the first completed project of the 2014 education bond referendum. The project, which cost $13.5 million, was completed on time and under budget.
Students were able to move into the new facility in late May 2016, but site work, including extensive earth-moving in front of the building, continued over the summer. Now, where a mountain of Iredell County clay once stood, there is a brand-new parking and drop-off area. The dirt was moved next door, where it’s being graded into new recreation fields.
At the official ribbon cutting ceremony, Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Brady Johnson credited many in the room for the project’s success.
That success began, Johnson noted, with the voters of Iredell County, who approved the Cool Spring project as part of the 2014 education bond referendum. The $131.5 million referendum, which passed with a majority vote nearly two years ago, is enabling multiple construction projects in Iredell-Statesville and Mooresville Graded School districts as well as at Mitchell Community College.
Our Schools First was represented at the ribbon cutting by Cool Spring resident and Democratic candidate for Iredell County Commissioner Diane Hamby, who acknowledged the strong community in Cool Spring and thanked all of those who voted for the project.
Members of the I-SS Board of Education and County Commission were also in attendance, as well as members of the Facilities Task Force, representatives from the Cool Spring Alumni Association, and several current and former teachers and administrators.
A mobile classroom unit housed students before the new facility was funded.
A project long overdue
The Cool Spring Elementary project was long overdue. The school was originally included in the 2004 bond referendum, but funding ran out before the project was underway, and plans to improve the campus had to be shelved.
At the time of the 2014 referendum, the facility had experienced several painful issues, included the failure of its central furnace during the winter. Students were attending classes in crowded classrooms–and in rooms not originally designed for instructional use. Elsewhere, leaky roofs, collapsed ceiling tiles, mold issues, and even holes in the walls distracted kids from learning.
But voters in Iredell County weren’t going to forget about Cool Spring.
Only two months after approving the 2014 bond referendum, work began on the new elementary school. Now, less than two years later, the Cool Spring community has a campus to be proud of.
Cool Spring Elementary was originally founded in 1898. Thanks to Iredell County voters 118 years later, they have a facility to last them long into the future.
Additional Media Coverage:
A New Chapter for Cool Spring Elementary
Candidate for County Commission Diane Hamby speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony
Cool Spring Elementary faculty at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
