Construction on a new Mt. Hope School in Lansing has begun after crews held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.
The Lansing School District facility is being built near Mt. Hope and Shubel avenues at the site of the old Mt. Hope STEAM Magnet School. That building, constructed in the 1940s, had become worn out over the years and is currently being demolished.
The project is the first of four to be funded from a $130 million bond voters approved last year for school capital improvements. The other three facilities are Willow Elementary, Lewton Elementary and Sheridan Road STEM Magnet.
At the project's groundbreaking, Ben Shuldiner, the Lansing School District's superintendent, thanked residents for approving funding for the new school.
"Lansing is an incredible city," he said. "It's an incredible school district, but we're on the rise. And this new building is going to symbolize that, a new hope, if you will, for Mount Hope."
Shuldiner said the new school will be modernized to better serve students and teachers.
"The school is going to be ADA compliant. It's going to have air conditioning. It's going to have modern technology. It's going to have all of the great things that schools and students are supposed to have," Shuldiner said.
Mayor Andy Schor used to live next to the old Mt. Hope school. When both his children were enrolled there, he said he used to "push them out the door" and watch them enter the building from across the street.
Schor called the school "an anchor in (the) neighborhood." While the mayor has fond memories of the first building, he said the new construction would be an important investment for the community.
“We’re showing the excitement, the vibrancy of our city, and our taxpayers putting dollars into making sure that our students have the best possible facilities to learn, which is hugely important,” Schor said.
Construction is expected to last two years, with the new building ready in time for the 2025 school year.