A new Harrowgate Elementary School is on the way after Chesterfield County officials broke ground at 4000 Cougar Trail last week.
The new 782-student school will replace the current 760-student school located at 15501 Harrowgate Road, which was built in 1960.
The new school will be built next to Carver Middle School, and local officials touted that as a benefit for students.
School board member Carrie Coyner said the new Harrowgate School will be identical to the new Enon Elementary School.
Harrowgate was originally supposed to be renovated, but because of a planned road (the East-West Corridor), county officials decided to rebuild the school in a different location, county supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle said. She noted that rebuilding was deemed “more economically sound,” and that plan drove the rebuilds of other county schools.
School board member Rob Thompson said that the April 16 groundbreaking was the eighth in the county in the past 3 1/2 years, with three more scheduled in the next 16 months.
Voters approved $304 million in a bond referendum for schools in a 2013. The estimated cost of the new school is $34.7 million. A fall 2020 opening date is planned.
