Sanford, FL – April 18, 2017 – Wharton-Smith, Inc., one of Central Florida’s largest locally based general contractors, joined with Seminole County Public School (SCPS) board members, project team members, students and staff on April 18 to break ground on the new Millennium Middle School, a Seminole County performing arts magnet school.

Located adjacent to SCPS’ Midway Elementary School, the new campus consists of a 222,400 square foot prototype occupying five buildings on a greenfield site. Designed to accommodate nearly 2,066 students, the school will replace the existing Millennium Middle School and provide a state-of-the-art performing arts center in support of the schools’ fine arts and communication curriculum. The existing facility will be converted to a 9th grade center to alleviate crowding at Seminole High School.

“The new Millennium Middle School is a specialty facility in that it has dance studios, 2-D and 3-D arts, and theatre…it has everything for a child who loves the performing arts,” remarked Dr. Walt Griffin, Superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools. “I think it was an absolutely great idea to put it right next to the elementary school of performing arts…there will be opportunities to share the facilities and do a lot of things together,” he added.

Ron Davoli, President and CEO of Wharton-Smith, and Paul Fulks, Senior Project Manager for the project, both addressed the crowd introducing the construction team that will lead the charge in building the new school for the community. “We are really proud to be building your new middle school,” said Davoli. “We are a Seminole County based contractor with many, many employees that live in Seminole County and children that go to Seminole County schools, so this is really a labor of love for us and our team,” he added.

As construction manager, Wharton-Smith will oversee all construction efforts for the new campus. SchenkelShultz Architecture is the designer. The $43 million project is expected to be complete in time for the 2018-2019 school year.

Check out more photos from the event here: Millennium Middle School Groundbreaking