Students in Aiken County have just started enjoying their summer vacation; however, school district leaders are working this summer to prepare to open a new school for the 2023-2024 school year.
Highland Springs Middle School is under construction just off Belvedere-Clearwater Road and is phase one of a two-part project. Phase two will be the construction of an elementary school. The middle school will be two stories, 134,000 square feet, and able to accept 750 students. Once built, the elementary school will add 61,500 square feet, also two stories, with 500 students.
The entrance on Belvedere-Clearwater Road is just east of the Palmetto Parkway/I-520 interchange, near North Augusta Department of Public Safety Fire Station Three.
“You can’t see it from the road and you have to go up the hill to see it,” explained school district Superintendent, King Laurence. “It is a beautiful, beautiful sight. We’re excited about getting our students in there for next year.”
The new school will mean an influx of new people. Hundreds of people from school staff, to students and parents coming to a section of road with little commercial development beyond a small strip shopping center and one convenience store.
“There’ll be a lot more traffic on that road. And I think that businesses and retailers, they look for that traffic,” said Laurence. “So, we’re going to be changing it significantly. That’s going to make a big difference.”
The first to feel that impact will be two businesses that focus on providing good food and a caffeine jolt to customers, The Back Porch Restaurant and coffee shop, Stone Roastery.
“Obviously, we hope that’s going to increase business,” said Brandon Gibson, owner of The Back Porch. “That was kind of the plan when we bought it. We were going to buy it anyway. We love this place, but that was like a bonus to hear that all this was coming. We got a place here with already established clientele, regulars that love the place, love the menu, and we hope to attract new business.”
Brad Stone, owner of Stone Roastery, said he had heard about plans for development along Belvedere-Clearwater Road. One evening, he was with his son who was taking lessons at North Augusta Martial Arts School in the shopping center. He looked across the street at an old, long-closed dry cleaner business. He bought the building with $500 in earnest money, while working on financing.
“I think it’s going to really increase our afternoons when school gets out,” he said. “I expect the mornings to get busier, as people go up there trying to get the kids to school. It will be drop the kids off, swing by here, then go home and get ready to go to work most of the time.”
The school is also the gateway to an ambitious mixed-use development, which is also how the school got its name.
The site that the school is being built on is a joint project between the school district and the developers of the Highland Springs project. It is a more than 1,300-acre, multi-use development that will include roughly 5,000 single-family homes and 1,000 apartments, about 3.2 million square feet of industrial area, a 555,000-square-foot village square, and an equal amount of space for commercial development. The plans posted by the school district said the boulevard from Belvedere-Clearwater Road to the school will also serve the Highland Springs community.
“So, that’s going to have a huge impact. And I think you’ll also see some of that growth that just comes along with any major development like that,” said Laurence.
Gibson said he’s anticipating new businesses will find their way to Belvedere-Clearwater Road.
“We were open to whatever, we can accommodate whatever,” he said. “And hopefully, they can in return give us back some customers. Hopefully, it’s a win-win for everyone. We know we will have to expand to accommodate. So, we have plans for that. We actually just finished redoing our parking lot.”
The parking lot re-do doubled the parking capacity. Gibson said he also has expansion plans to increase seating.
“We don’t want to rock the boat. We still want it to be this homey feel. But we are aware that we’re going to have to increase seating.”
Up the road at Stone Roastery, customers can buy bags of freshly roasted coffee beans to take home. Or they can stay and enjoy a cup and a snack.
“This would be the place to purchase coffee from all over the world. And then, the cakes are really good. Freshly roasted coffee and homemade cake. Give it a try,” he said.
Registration is open for students to be the first Highland Springs Riverhawks. More information is on the school’s webpage https://www.acpsd.net/HSMS.
Aiken County returns to school on July 25, the first year it will operate on the modified, year-round calendar.
