Hamilton County Commissioners will consider next Wednesday an $8 million purchase of almost 19 acres at the former Cigna Corp. facility at 7555 Goodwin Road for use as a future school.
The land encompasses an existing 100,000 square foot, single-story building and sits on a larger 95-acre site.
Hamilton County Schools Facilities Director Justin Witt told commissioners during their agenda review meeting Wednesday that the cost of renovating the facility would likely be about $18 million to $20 million depending on the scale. The exact timing of the conversion is still in discussion, he said.
"The building has been recently renovated and updated," Witt said. "It's an open floor plan. The biggest expense is sectioning it off for classrooms and turning it into a school."
Excluding the cost of purchasing property, Witt estimated that constructing a new school from the ground up would be about $30 million to $35 million.
Commissioner Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, said the purchase and conversion of the facility would be a substantial savings for the county compared to new construction, adding that buying land would probably bring that hypothetical price tag to upwards of $45 million. He also noted that there is already significant growth in that area.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County working group aims to address $1 billion school facilities 'crisis')
"That would be saving the county a tremendous amount of money, and I think it's very viable," Highlander said, asking about the plans for the surrounding acreage.
The area would be mostly residential, Witt responded, and it would be a good match for the school.
Empire Communities, a homebuilding company, is purchasing the Cigna property and would sell the 19 acres to the county.
Witt said the location would house about 750 students. East Brainerd Elementary School, which is across the street from the site, has a headcount of about 1,000.
Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, asked Witt whether the estimated 750 seats at the facility would be too little given the growth occurring in that area.
"We have a tendency to do too much immediate relief and not think about five years, 10 years down the road where we're going to put the other 500 students that are going to be in the growth pattern for our county in that particular area," he said. "If we do that we're never catching up and ... our taxpayers are paying more money for more multiple schools that are smaller boxes."
(READ MORE: Cigna to keep employees working from home, selling East Brainerd campus)
Witt said he sees the facility as a large addition to East Brainerd Elementary School, conceivably sharing some administrative or cafeteria costs.
"The big thing in this area is property," he said. "You're landlocked in the East Brainerd area, so again, this was a great opportunity -- 90 acres sitting across the street from East Brainerd just made a lot of sense."
The County Commission will convene for its regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5 in the fourth floor chambers at the Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.