Replacement elementary school under construction in Baltimore

The Baltimore City school district has broken ground on a replacement elementary school.

WYPR.org reports that the start of construction on a new Furley Elementary School comes nearly eight years after students were removed from the building because of structural problems.

“The building is failing structurally,” said Maurice Gaskins, director of construction for Baltimore City Public Schools. “So we have buckets [on the roof] filled with cement, as a counterweight to help to keep the facade in place.”

For now, Furley Elementary students are housed in the building previously known as Thurgood Marshall High School

The new Furley will be able to educate nearly 700 students, WMAR-TV reports.

It will have a music and art center, a recreation center, and an early learning special education classroom.

New play spaces will be built for the school, and an outdoor pollinator garden is under development as well.

The new building is set to open in August 2024.