New Myrtle Beach middle school displaces Boys & Girls Club, other agencies in Family Learning Center

The Boys & Girls Club and other agencies housed in the Myrtle Beach Family Learning Center are looking for a new place to operate as Horry County Schools moves forward on a school-building plan that includes the demolition of the center.

The Oak Street building that houses five community programs will be demolished so the district can build a new Myrtle Beach middle school on the grounds. Once the new school is built all five programs now contained in the learning center are planned to move to the old middle school, but until then the district is trying to find a way to accommodate everyone.

“This is the craziest thing in the world but we don’t know where we’re going to be right now,” said Etta Greene Carter, director of the Adult Education Center.

The district does not yet know where the programs will be temporarily placed during construction, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of facilities.

“We are still actively assessing all options available to us and hope to have a definitive direction in the very near future,” Wolfe said.

The district is cucrenlty in contract negotiations with three architecture companies. First Floor Energy Positive, based in Raleigh, N.C., came in first in evaluations earlier this month to design and build all five new schools. Robbie Ferris, CEO of First Floor, said earlier this month he hopes to start construction within a few weeks depending on contract negotiations.

The district doesn’t have a definitive demolition date for the Family Learning Center yet, which leaves the center’s residents in uncertain waters.

Horry County Schools facilities staff are working on placing the adult education program into another building during construction, Carter said, but accommodating so many programs takes time.

The district’s facilities department contemplated squeezing the new middle school next to the Learning Center without tearing it down, but the new school would have been pushed against the corner of 29th Avenue North, Wolfe said at a facilities meeting in July. The department decided just demolishing the center would be the best plan, and all occupants were notified.

Carter is confident that the district will find somewhere for them to go, no matter how small. As long as students have somewhere to learn, the Adult Education Center will provide the tools and curriculum.

“And the sooner that we know where that space is, we’ll need to let our students know that we’re shifting, up and running,” Carter said.

Other tenants are hoping for a more permanent solution. The Boys and Girls Club of the Grand Strand, which has been in the center since 2008, leases space in the building every year.

Dione Buonto, executive director of the Myrtle Beach branch, has searched for other places to house the Boys and Girls club but nothing has worked out, she said. The space is either too small or the rent is far too high for the non-profit.

“They do need a new middle school, and it’s no one’s fault,” Buonto said. “It has to be done, but we hope the district and the community respond to this need.”

Buonto said the board is starting a capital projects campaign so the organization – which serves over 100 Myrtle Beach students daily – can build their own home. She’s hoping the community will help raise money for a new space where neighborhood kids and teens can learn and play safely after school.

“I think having our own building would be helpful so that we don’t have to worry if something like this happens again,” she said.

Buonto is confident that something will work out, but in the meantime she’s focused on providing Myrtle Beach students somewhere safe. Cotisha Pagan, whose son Melo attends the Boys and Girls Club, said the organization has helped Melo improve his school grades. Educators spend one-on-one time with their ‘students’ and help with homework and social skills.

“They work really well with him,” Pagan said. “It’s a good place for him to come after school.”

Though several of the programs aren’t directly related to or funded by Horry County Schools, the district wants to help relocate the tenants because of their impact on the community, said Joe DeFeo, Board of Education chairman.

“When these types of programs are in the community, they’re good for the parents and the kids,” he said. “And what’s good for them is good for us.”

DeFeo said even though there isn’t a definitive demolition date for the center, he still expects all new schools to be completed by May 2017. The district will help out the tenants as much as possible, he said.

“It’s in our best interest to do whatever we can to help those programs while we’re in this transition,” he said.

The board decided to use a design-build project delivery system for its five new schools, which means a single firm performs both design and construction of each project.

The facilities committee will meet Monday to talk about the Learning Center’s tenant placement, followed by a specially called Board of Education meeting concerning the capital budget and contract to build the five new schools.

The board met for over two hours last week to discuss the building contract.

“The board’s plan is to have a vote to award contract and finalize everything for the new schools,” DeFeo said.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 10:06 AM with the headline "New Myrtle Beach middle school displaces Boys & Girls Club, other agencies in Family Learning Center."