An update on the construction and new renovations on the original Lehigh Acres Middle School were highlighted at a tour of offered to local media last Tuesday.

The school is now part of Veterans Park Academy for the Arts campus, and part of its expansion.

Once completed, the renovations will make way for 1,002 permanent student stations for students grades six through eight when the next school year starts in August.

“Once renovations are completed, the middle school will house between 300 to 330 students per class, which is larger than its former capacity,” said Rob Spicker, School District of Lee County spokesperson.

Besides creating a new home for middle school students, the $18 million dollar project includes new science labs, classrooms, and new rooms for dance, music and theater. Construction crews are also remodeling outdated classrooms, the media center, and cafeteria.

“Students will feel as if they are walking into a completely new campus at the start of the school year, and the middle school will operate as part of Veterans Park Academy for the Arts — right down to the bells and bus ramps,” Spicker said.

The original Lehigh Acres Middle opened its doors to students in1983.

The consensus on what direction to go with the school came after a community meeting held in March.

“They determined based on time restraints and the school’s current conditions that renovating the campus was a cheaper option than building a brand new school and starting from scratch,” Spicker said. “Once crews got in and began to work they realized there were some major renovations needed in certain parts of the school.”

“Students are basically getting a brand new building that meets all the new codes, and for a lot less money,” Spicker said.

Gulf Coast Construction began the renovation project on Jan. 19, with a prospective finish date of July.

The project was broken up into four phases. Phase I was to create the scope and vision for the new campus after the students and staff at Lehigh Acres Middle moved to a new school on Sunrise Blvd, which was completed in 2021.

Phase II is under way and will finish in August 2022. Phase III will consist of the design and building of a Performing Arts Center for the campus and Phase IV will renovate and remodel the classroom spaces at Veterans Park.

One highlight for the new campus is the Black Box Performing Arts Center

“This theater will combine the school’s community performing space and expand the students’ ability to put on performances. It will also be available to the community. There is a need in Lehigh for a theater like this,” Spicker said.

The school board is trying to keep pace with the quick growth of the East Zone.

“As we came out of the recession, we saw rapid growth happening in the East Zone and we didn’t have the funding to keep up. Besides the renovations and addition to Veterans Park Academy, Lee County has slated the building of a new elementary school, and two more middle schools.

“Building a school can be a four to five year process. It takes time. We are catching up as fast as we can,” Spicker said.