HCS moves ahead with plans to build new Whittemore Park Middle School

The Horry County Schools Board of Education has selected a general contractor to build a new Whittemore Park Middle School.

After six firms responded to request for proposals, H.G. Reynolds in Aiken was selected to build the new middle school along El Bethel Road. PMH & Associate architects will assist in the project. No site plans or timeline have been released.

The board voted unanimously for H.G. Reynolds. HCS Board Chairman Ken Richardson and board member Howard Barnard were absent.

H.G. Reynolds was established in 1948 as a general contracting firm, constructing small commercial buildings in Greenwood followed by a school in Rock Hill, a gymnasium in Edgefield and a hospital in Walterboro, according to the company's website. The family business is run by third-generation sons.

The current WPMS sits just off U.S. 378/Wright Boulevard within the city limits of Conway. The new site property on El Bethel is three parcels, making up about 39 acres. 

HCS bought the property for $616,400, or $15,891 per acre.

School board members also unanimously voted to request two of the parcels be annexed into city limits, combine the three parcels into one and rezone the entire property to institutional.

The city’s institutional zoning code is intended to provide areas for the development of medical, educational and facilities in a campus-like setting, according to planning department records.

The request will have to go through the city's planning commission and then to city council for a special presentation, which gives council the opportunity for Council to learn about the upcoming vote during a first reading and public hearing, said June Wood, the city's spokesperson. After the public hearing and first reading with a vote, there will then be another meeting for a second hearing and final approval with a vote.

There has been no formal discussion about plans for the current WPMS after the new facility is constructed, HCS spokesperson Lisa Bourcier said.

The HCS property borders property that McLeod Health is looking to purchase for a "campus with numerous facilities." Conway City Council unanimously voted to rezone the property from low-density residential to institutional during an Oct. 4 meeting.