FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On Tuesday, March 12, the Fayetteville School Board approved the purchase of land on East Joyce Boulevard where the district will build a third junior high.
This will be the first junior high the district has built in over 50 years.
The land buy passed 7-0 and Fayetteville Superintendent John Mulford said that he can’t wait to get this project started.
"It's a great feeling knowing that we're ready to move forward with the project. So, a lot of things have been on hold at this point. But we got all the pieces in place, and we'll be ready to move right away. We told our community that if we go in this direction, that it would be implemented on August 27. And we want to make sure that we stick with that," Mulford said.
While the district looked at many different locations to build this new school, Mulford said he believes this is the best spot.
"I still firmly believe that, of the options available to us, this is the best site. It's still relatively close to most of the families that live in this zone, and after conducting the traffic study and soil study, we don't believe there to be any concerns with the property," Mulford said.
As Northwest Arkansas continues to grow, Mulford says this school will set the area up for future success.
"It sets us up for the long haul says Northwest Arkansas and Fayetteville continue to grow. Adding a third junior high and pure feeder pattern model takes some pressure off of our existing buildings and allows us to grow and absorb more students as our community grows," Mulford said.
The district's plan is to get this project going right away.
"So now that it's approved, or we've already selected an architect, they're going to get started on design right away. We anticipate that design process to be between nine and 12 months. So hopefully around this time next year, we'll be putting the project out to bid and breaking ground in the spring of 2025 which then will allow us to have the building complete for the August 2027/28 school year," Mulford explained.
The land will cost $4.6 million to purchase but the district plans to meet with the City of Fayetteville with hopes the city can help out. However, as of now, the district is planning to pay for all of it.
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