Buchanan County breaks ground on Southern Gap High School; federal and contractor teams pledge continued progress

Southern Gap High School moved from plan to shovel-in-ground this week as Buchanan County Public Schools, federal representatives and contractors marked a ceremonial groundbreaking and reiterated steady progress on the consolidated high school project.

Sherry Fletcher, who identified herself as the event emcee, framed the project as the outcome of years of planning tied to federal flood-resilience programs, including Section 202 of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1981 and supplemental appropriations after the 2019 disaster. “This site would be also utilized to consolidate up to 2 other county high schools,” Fletcher said, describing the cost-savings and programmatic benefits the consolidated facility is intended to deliver.

The project’s federal backing drew public acknowledgement from a range of speakers. Colonel Jason Putnam, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Huntington District, said the work was often rooted in disaster response but yields long-term community benefits: “Everything from dealing with disasters and seeing people on their worst day ever, to events like this, where the event that led us to this may not have been great, but this is,” Putnam said.

Angie McClanahan, identified in the meeting as Buchanan County Public Schools board chair, called the milestone “exciting” and lauded the collaboration among agencies, staff and community members that produced the project. “This beautiful new facility will open so many doors for academics, sports, vocational trades, arts, and musical opportunities for our children,” McClanahan said.

Shane Quinn, representing Sen. Mark R. Warner’s office, read a letter praising the U.S. Army Corps project manager’s work and presented an American flag flown at the U.S. Capitol for display in recognition of that service.

Curtis Saleslake, who identified himself as the Skanska project manager, introduced contractor and consultant team members and thanked local officials and school-board members for their roles in advancing construction. A project representative reported that site grading and stoning at the Rough Cross Lane entrance are complete, athletic parking areas have been rough-graded, gym footers were poured last Friday and the elevator pit has been poured for the school’s first elevator. The representative said under-slab mechanical, electrical and plumbing work will begin in the coming weeks.

The ceremony closed with officials invited to take ceremonial shovels in the site dirt; the school board continued other meeting business following the ceremonial portion. The county and contractor team emphasized that although the ceremony marks a visible milestone, technical work on foundations, utilities and site grading will continue through the winter months.