Pasco County Schools has begun construction on a $52.7 million magnet school in the Angeline community, which is expected to offer an array of new opportunities for students in grades six through 12.
Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools, offered a brief update on the project during the Pasco County School Board’s April 19 meeting.
Work has begun on putting up the stem walls on the project, Gadd said. “We’re on time, despite supply chain issues,” he said.
“It’s going to be another great facility in Pasco County,” the deputy superintendent added.
The school board approved a contract in November with Ajax Building Company, to construct the building on an 18.8-acre site in the new Land O’ Lakes development, which is being billed as a wellness community.
Angeline will emerge on thousands of acres of land, east of the Suncoast Parkway and south of State Road 52. The area includes Moffitt Cancer Center’s planned Pasco County campus.
County Administrator Dan Biles anticipates the cancer center’s presence in Pasco to spur what he has described as “generational change.”
The project is expected to include a massive research and corporate innovation district.
It has site entitlements that encompass 24 million square feet, and include plans for a hospital, research and development space, office, manufacturing, laboratories, pharmacies, educational facility/university, hotel, and commercial space. The multiyear, multiphase project is expected to create 14,500 jobs.
At previous school board meetings, Gadd has reported that the school district, Moffitt and Pasco-Hernando State College are collaborating to create a magnet school, featuring unique offerings and opportunities for students.
The school is designed for 1,700 students. Its plans call for a facility with 186,882 gross square feet.
The project is expected to be substantially completed in April 2023, with final completion in June 2023.
In an unrelated action, the Pasco County Commission has approved earmarking $50,000 for a park project in Angeline.
County board members approved the expenditure during their April 19 meeting, allocating the money to be used for a stormwater and flood plain engineering analysis related to a future park.
Published April 27, 2022
