Construction of a new elementary school that will also serve as the location for Harford Academy and a career development program in Bel Air is expected to begin next year.
The project will be built on 44.49 acres off Eva Mar Boulevard and North Fountain Green Road. Plans show that the combination school will be about 223,000 square feet with 400 parking spaces.
According to the traffic impact study, the elementary school is expected to have about 608 students. Harford Academy, a school specializing in special education and currently operating out of a building next to Harford Technical High School, will have a capacity of 250 students.
The career development program, known as the Harford County Model School Program, provides hands-on classroom experience for teaching interns. The program is expected to have about 17 students in the new school.
Once it opens, the school is expected to generate about 1,380 vehicle trips per day, according to the traffic study.
According to the study, the school will have “minor impacts” on traffic in the surrounding area. However, signal timing adjustments and enhanced roadway markings were recommended to avoid backups and congestion.
Originally, the Eva Mar site was slated for the county’s first continuing-care retirement community center. The $100 million project by the Presbyterian Home of Maryland broke ground in 2020, but the plans were scrapped in 2022 because of construction cost increases and the COVID pandemic.
Harford County purchased the land for $6.3 million in February 2024 and transferred ownership to the Board of Education for the combination school.
Kerry Porter-Hill, an architect with the school construction project, said during the community input meeting in January that the project is in the design phase, which is slated for completion in November.
After the design phase, Porter-Hall said the project will move to bid procurement and obtaining building approvals. She said she anticipates this will occur in February of next year and that contractors will be on site in March.
The combination school is expected to be open by the end of summer 2028.
Plans for the project will be presented to the Development Advisory Committee on May 7 at 9 a.m. in the first-floor conference room, 220 S. Main St. in Bel Air. During the meeting, numerous county and state departments will provide feedback to the developers.
Development Advisory Committee meetings are open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide their thoughts and ask questions during the meeting.
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