New Texas Grade School Breaks Ground in Elgin
By Eric Althoff
ELGIN, Texas—Designer Pfluger Architects and general contractor Satterfield & Pontikes Construction joined officials from the Elgin Independent School District recently as they collectively toasted the groundbreaking of the new Harvest Ridge Elementary, the fourth elementary school for the Elgin ISD. Harvest Ridge Elementary will serve students from pre-K through 5th grade. Funding for the project comes from the district’s $183 million bond program, passed by voters in November 2021.
“This is such an exciting moment for the Elgin community,” Elgin ISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jana Rueter said at the groundbreaking. “Harvest Ridge Elementary will provide a safe and nurturing environment for students to learn and grow, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Future staff and students will benefit from the school’s overall design, which reflects Elgin ISD’s commitment to providing high-quality education for its students.”
Harvest Ridge, which will be home to 800 students, will be sited on a 13-acre plot of land the district owns in the immediate vicinity of Elgin High School. The design for the school incorporates innovative designs meant to increase learning capabilities at Harvest Ridge, and inside the classrooms will boast up-to-the-minute technology. Additionally, the elementary school will offer a music room, gym, art room, library, cafeteria and outdoor learning spaces.
Pfluger and Satterfield & Pontikes are working in conjunction with Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, Inc. (LAN), which is acting as program manager for the district’s bond program and thus will oversee budgeting and execution of the construction and renovation work throughout the district. In addition to Harvest Ridge, LAN will be shepherding to completion an additional elementary school, upgrading Elgin High School, and making various other improvements throughout the Elgin ISD.
One of the challenges of this particular project, according to Tim Strucely, LAN Associate and Program Manager for Elgin ISD’s bond program, is that the district will be constructing the school as part of a new subdivision.
“The developer is extending the main boulevard out to and beyond the school construction site, as well as constructing all of the utility infrastructure,” Strucely said in a statement emailed to School Construction News, offering that the project “is happening in parallel with the construction of the school site. The developer built a temporary construction road to allow us to physically access the school site.”
Strucely added that he and his firm are dedicated to providing a first-class school for the Elgin ISD that will meet the community’s needs.
As currently projected, the new elementary school will open for students in the fall of 2024 for the Elgin ISD, which educates over 5,000 students in grades K through 12.
“We are excited to celebrate this investment in our community, and our children, and to see this new facility come to life,” enthused Rueter, the superintendent.
LAN, which employs nearly 400 professionals around the country, falls under the umbrella of the LEO A DALY companies, an internationally recognized engineering and architecture firm.