Samet Corp. Selected to Build New N.C. High School

DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. — Greensboro, N.C.-based Samet Corp. was selected as the contractor to build the $51 million Oak Grove High School in Davidson County. The 200,000-square-foot facility will be the first new high school to be built in the county in nearly 30 years.

The new high school is intended to alleviate overcrowding at North Davidson and Ledford high schools, according to the Davidson County Schools website. Scheduled to open in August 2017, advance sitework has already been completed by Winstom-Salem, N.C.-based Lowder Inc.

The project will consist of two-story classroom wings, a student dining and commons area, 550-seat auditorium, gymnasium and seven mechanical platforms to house water source heat pumps and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs), according to October 2015 bid documents. Charlotte, N.C.-based Moseley Architects is serving as the architect on the project.

The school board voted in a November 2015 meeting to start the high school with only grades nine and 10, with an eventual capacity of 1,200 students. When it initially opens, it will house 497 students, including 254 ninth graders and 243 10th graders, according to The Dispatch.

In late November, Davidson County commissioners voted unanimously to approve financing for the new high school, agreeing to spend an additional $600,000 a year to finance the project. The additional funding will help finance unforeseen costs discovered during the planning and layout stages in order to still include football and baseball fields, an auxiliary gym and four additional classrooms. The Dispatch reported that commissioners insisted that the school be built on strong academic and athletic foundations in order to successfully merge students from North Davidson and Ledford high schools.

The Davidson County Board of Education also committed to paying $4.5 million in funds raised by a bond referendum, reported The Dispatch, to bring the total project cost to roughly $46.8 million.