Elkmont Mayor Tracy Compton said he’s heard talk of a new elementary school in his community since he was in school. For years, the town has watched as the possibility was discussed and pushed back again and again.

“We were ‘next in line’ six or eight times over the last few years,” Compton said, but plans would change each time, moving Elkmont back down the list.

Now, their time has come. Planning for Elkmont Elementary School is officially underway, with additional plans for extending Elkmont’s town limits and paving the way for additional housing in the community.

The Limestone County Board of Education has already chosen an architect for the new school building, which is set to house between 700 and 750 students on about 40 acres of land across from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store on Alabama 127. A potential project schedule from Chapman Sisson Architects and Limestone County Schools lists a target opening in August 2024.

LCS Superintendent Randy Shearouse said that date may seem far away, but it will be a “very worthwhile process.”

“Right now, we’re looking at making sure the land is suitable,” he said. “They’ll do some borings on the property to make sure what’s needed at the site.”

Pre-design, schematic design, budget pricing and design development are all part of the potential schedule for 2021, with construction set to begin around August or September of 2022. Shearouse said along the way, school officials want to work with school teachers and administrators, government officials and the community to see what they need and want from their new school.

Compton said he’s been working with LCS both as Elkmont mayor and as a board member with the Alabama Elk River Development Association. AERDA assists communities along the Elk River with economic growth and development, including development of Elkmont Rural Village, which provided the land being used for Elkmont Elementary School.

Compton said Elkmont Town Council plans to annex the property into the town limits, which will not only allow the town limits to cross Alabama 127 for the first time but also expand Elkmont into Limestone County Commission’s District 4. Currently, the town is in District 1 only.

It would also mean the first road to be built in Rural Village in a decade or more and sewer infrastructure that could pave the way for more housing near the school, according to Compton. Having the property annexed into the town limits will help Elkmont apply for grants to help the school, he said.

“If there ever was a win-win-win, this is it,” Compton said. With AERDA, LCS, the County Commission and the community working together on this project, “it’s not just putting a school on some ground. Everyone is going to benefit from this, so everyone has a vested interest to make this the best it can be.”