“If you build it, they will come.” When Kevin Costner spoke those now-legendary words in the movie “Field of Dreams,” he was talking about baseball, of course, not schools. But the same visionary idea also underlies Sundt‘s current K-12 education project in Lathrop, Calif. – an $18 million elementary and middle school for the River Islands at Lathrop master-planned community. The project team recently broke ground on the new Banta Elementary and Middle School, even though the development doesn’t have any houses yet.
“While it’s rare that the construction of a school is happening in advance of residential construction, it makes for a unique project and neat opportunity,” said Teri Jones, project executive and vice president for Sundt. “Building the first school allows the developer and district to address the needs and priorities of potential future residents. As they shop for a home, families will be able to tour the school their children could potentially attend.”
When it opens its doors in August of 2013, Banta Elementary and Middle School will accommodate 1,500 students on a 30-acre site within the River Islands development. At build-out, River Islands will offer 18 miles of lakefront living with 11,000 residential units, five million square feet of commercial space, plus six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.