Article originally published in This Week news by Sarah Sole
As 2020 draws to a close, construction of Dublin City Schools’ fifth middle school is about half completed – and it has a name: Eversole Run.
Jeff Stark, chief operating officer for the district, said the project remains on time and on budget, and the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic hasn’t affected the schedule to date. The school building is slated to open for the 2021-22 academic year, and the project cost is just under $42.3 million for buildout and site construction.
Eversole Run Middle School is being built in the Jerome Village development in Jerome Township in Union County, near the district’s northern boundary lines. Eversole Run also is the name of a nearby neighborhood in Jerome Village.
The new middle school will be next door to the new Abraham Depp Elementary School, 9001 Gardenia Drive, Plain City.
Stark said the building is fully enclosed, with a roof and heating systems. Painting and ceiling work have started, and flooring will begin soon, he said. On the outside of the building, stormwater systems nearly are finished, and base asphalt layers in the parking lots have been completed, he said.
He said in early 2021, the district will work with the contractor, Elford Inc., to prepare a furniture order for Eversole Run.
Superintendent Todd Hoadley said the building is being designed for flexible learning space. Some classrooms will be equipped with doors similar to those on garages to allow learning spaces to extend into hallways.
Although school projects often require flexible space, the pandemic has shown the need for more versatile areas to enable social distancing, he said.
Opening a new building provides a great opportunity to talk about meeting students’ needs, Hoadley said.
“We’ve got to really have some courageous conversations around the curriculum and the needs of these middle school students for the future,” he said.
Hoadley said Eversole Run would, in concert with the district’s recently completed redistricting process, reduce overcrowding at Davis and Sells middle schools.
The northern and western portions of the school district are its fastest-growing areas, Hoadley said, and Jerome Village itself is projected to have 3,000 residences at its completion. The new school building gives the district the capacity it requires as the area continues to expand, he said.
Hoadley said the district is projecting the Jerome Village building would be its final middle school.
He said two more elementary schools could be needed as the district continues to grow.
@ThisWeekSarah
