Gaston County breaks ground on new W.P. Grier Middle School

The Gaston County Board of Education announced at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday that plans to build the new W.P. Grier Middle School are moving forward.

Construction is set to take place in two phases, with the first phase beginning this year to include the construction of the school building, and phase two to include the construction of Grier’s sports complex.

Phase one will be completed in 2025, and the new school building will be open to students while the former building is torn down and replaced with a sports complex to be completed in 2026.

Since its opening in 1956, W.P. Grier Middle School has undergone several changes.

According to information from the board of education, the school initially served grades 1-9.

Grier became a junior high school in 1969, and the school has formally been W.P. Grier Middle School, serving grades six through eight, since 1997.

Currently, the school educates roughly 600 Gastonia students.

The new two-story school building will be able to accommodate up to 1,200 students, doubling their potential capacity.

Grier Principal Dr. Amy J. Holbrook announced at the groundbreaking that the new 155,000-square-foot facility will include more than 40 classrooms, a multi-use media center, extra parking, a basement with extra planning and staff rooms, and more.

Many of the classrooms will be on the second floor, Holbrook said.

Gaston County Commissioner Bob Hovis and Gastonia Mayor Walker E. Reid III both spoke at the ground breaking and commented on the school’s proximity to other educational institutions.

Hovis noted the school’s next door neighbor, the Schiele Museum, and the Gaston County Library branch that sits just across the road on Garrison Boulevard, citing these neighbors as one of the reasons Grier Middle is an exceptional location for learning.

Reid pledged support from the city to create an even stronger relationship between the Schiele Museum and the school.

The construction of this new facility will make this the county’s fourth new school built in the last 10 years.

Although some money was saved by using the land on which Grier currently sits, the total cost of the new facility is expected to be between $50-$60 million.

The board acknowledged at the groundbreaking that this cost is higher than other projects due to inflation.

This project is being funded by bonds approved by voters in 2018.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County breaks ground on new W.P. Grier Middle School