Fort Mill, SC (August 26, 2020) – Construction teams are packing up their final belongings in Mason’s Bend as both teachers and students prepare to begin classes on Monday, August 31 at Fort Mill School District’s new Kings Town Elementary School.

Providing construction management and consulting services, Cumming’s regional experts made sure to have the school completed within its original timeline and budget even during these times of uncertainty, allowing teachers and staff to fully prepare for the 2020-2021 school year.

The two-story school sits on a 39-acre site and has the capacity for 1,000 elementary students.

The school features classrooms, science labs, project areas, and dedicated art and music rooms, totaling 57 separate instructional spaces, as well as resource and independent workrooms spread throughout all grade levels. In addition to the traditional educational spaces and cafeteria, Kings Town Elementary School was also built to include a state-of-the-art media center at the east end of the building and attached gymnasium on the west end.

“We had a particularly challenging winter in 2019, which turned out to be one of the wettest ever recorded, so we encountered significant delays early on in the construction process forcing all teams to come together, get creative with the process, and tighten up the schedule so we could still open on time for the 2020-2021 school year,” said Jon Hattaway, program manager at Cumming. “We knew we owed it to these kids, and we could not be prouder to help the Fort Mill School District continue to grow and provide top tier educational environments for the local community. We know how important it is to provide safe and inviting schools so students can truly thrive.”

The project team for Kings Town Elementary includes Jumper Carter Sease out of Columbia, SC for design, and Shelco, LLC serving as the general contractor. Kings Town’s design was based on Charleston County School District’s successful build for the recently completed Carolina Park Elementary School. An adaptation of that existing school’s design help saved months in the architectural and engineering design stages, allowing an accelerated construction timeline for Kings Town. Given Kings Town Elementary School’s proximity to the historical areas identified by the Catawba Indian Nation Tribal representatives, the project was monitored by a certified archeologist during the critical early phases of the project to ensure no historical sites or artifacts were disturbed.

Cumming’s regional team is also overseeing construction over at River Trail Elementary School, which is next in line for completion in Fort Mill. River Trail is scheduled to open this coming January and will be nearly identical in terms of floor plan and will utilize the same design team as Kings Town Elementary School to increase efficiencies and cost savings.

The opening of Kings Town and River Trail Elementary Schools will greatly relieve pressure on FMSD availability for elementary-aged students. The need was so great in Fort Mill that four of the nine other existing elementary schools in the district had to freeze enrollments during the 2019-2020 school year. The booming district has grown by approximately 1,000 students per year since the passing of the 2015 Bond Referendum.

About Cumming

Serving the Carolinas since 1988, Cumming is an international project and cost management firm with 30 domestic and six international offices, and approximately 1850+ team members. Since opening for business in 1996, Cumming has provided efficient and cost-effective solutions to ensure that projects in the commercial, hospitality, retail, entertainment, education, healthcare, and high-end residential sectors are executed on time and within budget. Cumming provides a solutions-oriented suite of services that specifically addresses its clients’ unique challenges, thus enabling them to achieve extraordinary results. For more information, please visit www.ccorpusa.com.

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