The architects leading the design of the new Hobbton High School building met with the Sampson County Schools Board of Education and Hobbton High families to provide a look at what the school will look like upon completion.
On Thursday night, Hobbton High hosted a special community event at the school’s current location to give families a look at schematics for the new building and answer questions about the project. Prior to this, project leaders from SfL+A, the architecture firm designing the school, gave the SCS board and Sampson County officials a look at what the actual interior and school layout will look like upon its completion. The school is set to begin construction in 10 months and will hopefully be completed in August of 2028.
Pleas for a new Hobbton High building have been ongoing for many years. Built in 1957, the current high school location has been cited as both a safety concern and a relic of the past due to its inability to keep up with growing needs and current safety standards. The list of concerns includes asbestos, poor lighting, narrow hallways, limited parking and classroom space, and many more.
At the board meeting, Project Interior Designer Shini Jackson and Project Manager Timothy Reed gave a slideshow presentation of images showing how the finished product will look. In addition to this, the team gave out flooring samples to the SCS board along with county officials present at the meeting. Jackson and Reed shared an in-depth rendering of the school’s media center, gymnasium and a multi-purpose classroom, a classroom that is complete with a stage, dressing rooms, retractable seating and more. The classroom is designed for special events and productions such as plays or special lectures. While it is being labeled as a classroom, it is not a classroom designed for a specific class or teacher.
“The whole point is that this would not be a classroom,” clarified SCS Superintendent Dr. Jamie King. “Each teacher has their own classroom. This is a space that they can use at specific times and not just during the day.”
The holding of the meeting and community event marks the end of the project’s “design and development” phase. The next phase of the project is its “construction documents” phase. While construction of the school won’t officially begin for another 10 months, the project leaders’ next step is to collect everything they need so that when construction does begin, it can go as planned and without a hitch.
“We’re gonna advance the architectural and engineering paths and further develop the details required to advance the project,” said Reed. “Then we’re going to finalize coordination between the departments and the school.”
A big concern of the board was the budget of the project. As it stands now, the project is roughly $1 to $2 million over its original budget of $73.6 million. The finished cost of the school, $74.8 million, does not include additional facilities such as ball fields, greenhouses, concessions stands, etc. According to Project Manager Miyuki Keller, this is actually a good spot for this stage in the process.
“We’re gonna get better numbers as we continue working with T.A. Loving (the construction company),” said Keller. “In this phase, that is a really great spot to be in. This is not uncommon to be some over budget or some under budget. Generally, you’re over budget and that’s when we start to massage. There’s some leniency and some give in the budget at this time.”
For Dr. King and the SCS school board, the next step is to allocate the funds to bridge the gap in the budget.
“We’re still working in our office to figure out that budget shortfall,” said Dr. King. “We asked them to go ahead and design it, because if we get the funding we can just go ahead and add it and not have to start all over again. Though it will cost us a little extra, I think in the long run it will save us funds.”
Keller stated that there is a possibility that the funds could be allocated through donations towards a football stadium, for example, and name it after the donor in exchange.
Updates on the Hobbton High project will follow in the coming months.