The Western Area High School is expected to break ground this year, and is expected to be the first high school to open in Chesterfield in about 20 years. (Images courtesy of Chesterfield)
Chesterfield officials are gearing up to start construction on the county’s latest high school.
Tree clearing is expected to kick off in March to pave the way for a new 330,000-square-foot high school to be built on a now-wooded property at 17500 Duval Road near Moseley, said Scott Carson, the Chesterfield school division construction director.
Construction is slated to start this summer, and the school is anticipated to open to students in August 2027. Currently dubbed the Western Area High School, the school is planned to have capacity for 2,400 students.
The project is expected to cost $135 million, and would be paid for through bond financing that was approved in the county’s 2022 voter referendum.
The new high school is anticipated to cost $135 million and would accommodate 2,400 students.
The school is anticipated to feature 89 classrooms and labs dedicated to core academic subjects. There would be additional classrooms devoted to art, music and business instruction, as well as career and technical training space.
Other planned features include: a theater for performances; a dedicated space for special education students; two interior courtyards; a cafeteria; an auditorium; and more than 900 parking spaces for students, faculty and visitors.
Athletic facilities will include two gyms, a 3,500-seat stadium field, two baseball diamonds, two softball diamonds and weight room.
A general contractor hasn’t been selected for the project, which is currently out to bid. Submissions are due Jan. 30. Carson said there’s been strong interest so far.
Engineering and architecture firm Stantec was tapped to handle the school’s design, which is expected to be similar to that of Independence High School in Loudoun County.
“We toured that building and just fell in love,” Carson said of Independence High, which Stantec also designed.
The 330,000-square-foot school would include a library, dozens of classrooms, two interior courtyards and a 3,500-seat stadium among other facilities.
Carson said the new high school is expected to be built using precast paneling, a material that has been utilized for the exterior walls of more recent school projects in Chesterfield, such as the nearby, in-progress Deep Creek Middle at 17151 Westerleigh Parkway.
Precast paneling is intended to make construction cheaper and faster, and will be used for exterior walls and some interior walls at the new school.
“We’re building (the new high school) a bit differently than Cosby and Clover Hill, which were built in the aughts. We’re using different construction technology to get this open for students faster and in a more economical way for the county,” Carson said. “It really saves us a lot of time and saves a lot on exterior masonry work.”
The new school would be the first new high school to be built in Chesterfield since Cosby opened in 2006.
The new high school is being built to address population growth in western areas of Chesterfield.
The project comes in response to the county’s increasing population. While there’s growth countywide, the western areas are seeing notable growth that requires a new high school to accommodate more kids in the area, Carson said.
“Our population is growing,” he said. “It’s our obligation and duty to provide quality schools for the county’s residents. We’re experiencing a lot of that growth in the Midlothian, Matoaca areas of the county.”
The new school is expected to draw most of its students from Cosby and some from Manchester and Midlothian high schools, though the county hasn’t finalized redistricting plans.
A site plan of the Western Area High School, which is planned for a site near the future intersection of Duval Road and a planned north-south connection to Westerleigh Parkway.
Chesterfield’s latest high school is set to rise alongside a new elementary and Deep Creek Middle that are underway nearby. The three school sites are situated along what will be a future north-south road to connect a lengthened Westerleigh Parkway to Duval Road.
Construction continues on the new middle school, which is expected open this August. The elementary school project broke ground in the fall.
The Western Area High School is expected to break ground this year, and is expected to be the first high school to open in Chesterfield in about 20 years. (Images courtesy of Chesterfield)
Chesterfield officials are gearing up to start construction on the county’s latest high school.
Tree clearing is expected to kick off in March to pave the way for a new 330,000-square-foot high school to be built on a now-wooded property at 17500 Duval Road near Moseley, said Scott Carson, the Chesterfield school division construction director.
Construction is slated to start this summer, and the school is anticipated to open to students in August 2027. Currently dubbed the Western Area High School, the school is planned to have capacity for 2,400 students.
The project is expected to cost $135 million, and would be paid for through bond financing that was approved in the county’s 2022 voter referendum.
The new high school is anticipated to cost $135 million and would accommodate 2,400 students.
The school is anticipated to feature 89 classrooms and labs dedicated to core academic subjects. There would be additional classrooms devoted to art, music and business instruction, as well as career and technical training space.
Other planned features include: a theater for performances; a dedicated space for special education students; two interior courtyards; a cafeteria; an auditorium; and more than 900 parking spaces for students, faculty and visitors.
Athletic facilities will include two gyms, a 3,500-seat stadium field, two baseball diamonds, two softball diamonds and weight room.
A general contractor hasn’t been selected for the project, which is currently out to bid. Submissions are due Jan. 30. Carson said there’s been strong interest so far.
Engineering and architecture firm Stantec was tapped to handle the school’s design, which is expected to be similar to that of Independence High School in Loudoun County.
“We toured that building and just fell in love,” Carson said of Independence High, which Stantec also designed.
The 330,000-square-foot school would include a library, dozens of classrooms, two interior courtyards and a 3,500-seat stadium among other facilities.
Carson said the new high school is expected to be built using precast paneling, a material that has been utilized for the exterior walls of more recent school projects in Chesterfield, such as the nearby, in-progress Deep Creek Middle at 17151 Westerleigh Parkway.
Precast paneling is intended to make construction cheaper and faster, and will be used for exterior walls and some interior walls at the new school.
“We’re building (the new high school) a bit differently than Cosby and Clover Hill, which were built in the aughts. We’re using different construction technology to get this open for students faster and in a more economical way for the county,” Carson said. “It really saves us a lot of time and saves a lot on exterior masonry work.”
The new school would be the first new high school to be built in Chesterfield since Cosby opened in 2006.
The new high school is being built to address population growth in western areas of Chesterfield.
The project comes in response to the county’s increasing population. While there’s growth countywide, the western areas are seeing notable growth that requires a new high school to accommodate more kids in the area, Carson said.
“Our population is growing,” he said. “It’s our obligation and duty to provide quality schools for the county’s residents. We’re experiencing a lot of that growth in the Midlothian, Matoaca areas of the county.”
The new school is expected to draw most of its students from Cosby and some from Manchester and Midlothian high schools, though the county hasn’t finalized redistricting plans.
A site plan of the Western Area High School, which is planned for a site near the future intersection of Duval Road and a planned north-south connection to Westerleigh Parkway.
Chesterfield’s latest high school is set to rise alongside a new elementary and Deep Creek Middle that are underway nearby. The three school sites are situated along what will be a future north-south road to connect a lengthened Westerleigh Parkway to Duval Road.
Construction continues on the new middle school, which is expected open this August. The elementary school project broke ground in the fall.
And Chesterfield County remains committed to suburban sprawl and ensuring future transportation headaches.
And it sucks, they have destroyed so much beautiful rural land because of it.
And I would say good for Chesterfield. Some of my recent visits to the city of Richmond shows just what a nightmare city density and congestion has become while spreading the disease of urbanism to surrounding areas of the counties. The traffic is the worst I’ve ever seen, and the streets are in bad shape. The planners in charge have failed miserably with apartments on top of apartments and condos on any empty lot, disregarding current residents, ruining once beautiful neighborhoods. To each his own.
I can’t disagree about the quality of the city’s roads, but where are you running into this horrible traffic in the city? I’d prefer a drive down Cary Street, Grove, Patterson or Monument any day over Hull Street and Midlothian Tnpk.
I really like it when the city of Richmond knocks down one story buildings and parking lots and replaces them with 7 story apartment buildings in that they are not ripping down trees and farmland to make way for more sprawl.Richmond in away is getting out of the Ponzi scheme of sprawl in that all their roads and sewers and watermains are already paid for.
“Already paid for.” ……
….but not New, right?
Wow… that description is more befitting of New York City or Chicago – and (spoiler alert) – no one will EVER confuse Richmond with either of those fine burgs.
Overcrowding is really about car population in that in Europe and in Japan there are a lot of people and not that many cars on the road. And it doesn’t feel as crowded in downtown Tokyo as it does on Hull Street.
WHAT???? Boy are you an ideologue — land of staff stuffing you into a subway car — tiny apts.
European cities don’t FEEL crowded at the street level, and have a DC feel to them, but the tiny apts ….
When you describe Richmond’s traffic as “the worst you’ve ever seen,” it completely undermines your credibility on urbanism.
May I suggest a visit to Short Pump, Brandermill, or Midlothian?
On behalf of Richmond, you’re welcome for the city’s smart growth and density, which enable the unchecked sprawl and resource drain that our suburbs require. Unfortunately, we in the city don’t have much choice but to subsidize that lifestyle.
I meant the worst I’ve seen in Richmond. I grew up in Richmond! I remember when the only traffic we had was from 7-9am and 4-6pm.
I understood what you meant, and I agree from your POV, but of course I think native Richmonders often don’t know what bad traffic looks like.
Blair up there is being a bit of a smug superior urbanist of course, but he has a point that the INNER county suburbs have a lot of traffic problems during rush hour at certain points — not sure what they will be able to do about that — likely move more workplaces west into the counties is usually what ends up happening, and they you get more density around those nodes.
It’s interesting that you describe the city as being in ruin when our walkable, people-focused urban neighborhoods are experiencing record-high property values. The demand for housing in these areas far exceeds the available supply, highlighting their growing appeal and desirability.
I will say I am impressed with your new mayor. Hope all Richmonders will benefit under his leadership.
Hopefully it is not merely a “by-comparison” assessment.
It’s certainly easier to go from good to bad than from bad to good. I hope this is the Golden Age for Richmond.
Hopefully he can excise the cancer in City Hall created by Jones and Stoney.
Don’t flatter yourself just because you carry a little gold. The values are pegged to the USDollar which continues to lose purchasing power. Many of those same houses are valued in dollars the same as they were 50 years ago. I remember when fan district homes first broke the $100,000 barrier and now they are breaking the $1,000,000 threshold. Directly tied to the value of the dollar. 50 years ago many of those houses could be had for $20,000 and a new car could be had for $2,000. A pair of shoes $5-10, Levi’s jeans $6.95 and a coke and… Read more »
Definitely going up faster than inflation recently — though Richmond area real estate has actually been UNDER-valued (when compared to replacement cost) for a long time — but certainly Mr. Underhill has a point about recent times.
All true, as well as in former areas where no one wanted to live.
Of course, this is not limited in the Metro to just Richmond proper, and indeed demand is up in places that have been bleeding out jobs like Rochester, NY — I bet property values are even going up in St. Louis these days…
seriously dude? Traffic is so bad in short pump that it backs out for a mile onto the right lane of I64 west at the exit
Agreed. Throw in 288/Hull St. or 295/360 and 295/rt.1 and now 288/rt.60 and the changes we’ve seen are mind boggling. Rolling with the changes is often easier said than done. It would be more prudent if I could suppress my sentiments rather than to flatter or to rail. I sometimes bear little grievances with less courage than I do large misfortunes. 30 years ago Downtown Short Pump was an auto shop with an airplane in the roof, then came Innsbrook. I can remember when Rt.60 and Courthouse Rd. was out in the country!
That intersection at Broad & Pump is the busiest intersection in the state,which I think moves along quite well considering the number of vehicles.
No one goes to Short Pump because the traffic is so bad. Thanks Yogi. lol.
I kind of wounder if this school might be a bit too big or better served by two or three smaller local schools instead of one monster sized one.
If they make a mistake with zoning like they did with the Middle School opening next year, then it will be overcrowded within a few years of opening. Hopefully they don’t wait another 19 years again to build the next high school…
The way rapidly growing districts do it is they tolerate overcrowding, then trailer classrooms, etc and then they eventually tend to OVERBUILD (just like airports like RIC were) —- just good fiscal management because you don’t want to build a new school every couple years because you built one too small too quickly. What is BAD fiscal management is poorer areas that want to REPLACE an old school building when the school district is stable or actually shrinking — but they usually are asking for others to build them a new school and can’t explain why they let the school… Read more »
It’s some beautiful older homes in the city Can’t say much for the new Apt/Condos on every other block,whata mess.
The streets and roads in. the city have always been a disaster,its100 percent pot hole,as long as I can remember.
Last month getting to my dental appointment on Patterson Ave. near Willow Lawn Dr. was a nightmare. 2:00 in the afternoon on Patterson was quite busy. Intersection at Libbie I had to sit 2 turns of the light. Last week around Grove Ave at Thompson St. was special only because I wanted to avoid going out Cary St. where there is always traffic problems. Hamilton and Broad St. area has changed is completely congested. Walls of apartments, like a canyon. If yall want to be like Jersy City or most of the I-95 cities up north then go for it.
They are going for it.
That’s okay. Some cities grow, and usually have growing pains.
Might be time to move to Roanoke or Staunton for some folks. It’s all good.
Yeah. I was recently on the Powhite from Broad to Cary and was shocked to see the walls along the train tracks covered with spray-painted graffiti in an area the City is trying to grow and attract people to live. Shameful.