ROANOKE, Va. – Construction on a new school building in Roanoke is officially underway.
Wednesday, city and school leaders broke ground on a new facility for Fallon Park Elementary School.
The $21.4 million project will be built in three phases. Students will move into parts of the new building as phases are completed.
School leaders said the main goals of the new state-of-the-art facility are safety and replacing an outdated building that opened in 1974.
"It’s just not conducive to a good learning environment and it just doesn't meet today's instructional needs at all," Dr. Rita Bishop, Roanoke City Public Schools superintendent, said.
The new facility is expected to be finished by summer 2020.