Construction on new Belmont Middle School campus is progressing nicely

This time next year, students at Belmont Middle School will be moving into a new home.  Construction on the school campus is going well, and students, teachers, and the community are watching the progress with pride and enthusiasm.

Work at the 78-acre site along South Point Road has been underway for more than a year – the groundbreaking ceremony was in March 2019.  The construction is transforming the once-wooded area into a beautiful school campus.|

When the 155,000 square-foot building opens for students in August 2021, it will replace the current Belmont Middle School located on Central Avenue.  The two-story, state-of-the-art building is situated on the front of the property with the athletic fields behind the school.

“It has been amazing to see everything happen,” said Belmont Middle principal Susan Redmond.  “To go from an 80-year-old building that has served our community well over the years to a new, contemporary school that will benefit future generations is very exciting and very special.”

When the school opens, it will have the space to house 1,000 students in grades 6-8.  The core areas such as the cafeteria and gymnasium are being built to accommodate future population growth for as many as 1,200 students.

Features include:
▪ more than 40 classrooms equipped with the latest technology as well as additional space for instructional use;
▪ a modern library and media center, which will serve as the heart of the school and be located near the main entrance;
▪ a spacious cafeteria with stage area and a large gymnasium to allow for a variety of uses;
▪ grades separated by wings with the sixth grade on the main floor and seventh and eighth grades on the second floor as well as administration areas on each floor; 
▪ separate bus and vehicle entrances with more than 200 parking spaces and a pick-up lane that is able to accommodate 100 cars; 
▪ maximum use of natural light and energy efficiency throughout the school; and 
▪ new athletic facilities including a multipurpose football field with a six-lane track, baseball and softball fields, bleachers, a field house, and equipment storage facility.

LS3P Associates is the architect, and Beam Construction Company is the general contractor for the new Belmont Middle School, which is similar in concept and design to Stanley Middle School.  Cost for the school is approximately $33 million, and funding comes from the $250 school bond referendum that voters approved in May 2018. 

Belmont Middle is the third brand new school campus for Gaston County Schools in less than five years.  The new Pleasant Ridge Elementary School in Gastonia opened in August 2017, and the new Stanley Middle School opened in March 2018.