LaGRANGE – The newest addition to Troup County’s school system is beginning to see progress as plans continue to move forward on the new elementary school that is set to open in August 2018.

Last week, the school board approved Carroll Daniel Construction Company to be the construction manager at risk for the new school.

The school is estimated to cost $15 million plus as much as 6.25 percent of the project’s final cost in fees. The new school is set to be located near the intersection of Lukken Industrial and South Davis Road and is expected to replace Whitesville Road Elementary School, which school board officials decided would require so many repairs that constructing a new school was the more affordable option during a fall 2016 school board meeting.

“We met for about six hours today, looking at the basic footprint of the school, what will be included in it, what kind of HVAC you’ll put in it, what kind of heating and cooling system – all of those things – what the design will look like, and how it will sit on the property,” Assistant Superintendent John Radcliffe said last week. “They’ve already done a survey, and we are waiting for the wetland delineation report to come back.”

Representatives from the school board met with civil engineers on Friday regarding the school, and school board officials are hopeful that the project will soon be under way.

“In the very near future the architects and the construction manager will begin meeting and the ball will start rolling, and we need to get that started,” Superintendent Cole Pugh said.

The Troup County School Board is scheduled to meet on June 15 at 5:30 p.m. at 100 North Davis Road.