School building to be finished by summer 2027
Franklin High School’s new stadium will be finished in roughly 15 months and the new 265,000 square-foot school will be ready by summer 2027, the project superintendent said last week.
Joey Cain, Carroll Daniel Construction superintendent shared the news at the Feb. 11 Macon County Board of Commissioners meeting. Carroll Daniel is the construction manager at risk for the over $135 million FHS project. Major work started in December.
Cain said workers are currently in “full demo mode” with the stadium, getting it ready to start moving dirt to the Frogtown property. It’s estimated that crews will need to move 90,000 cubic yards of dirt for the school project.
Most of the stadium has been removed, with only the lights and scoreboard still standing. The grass parking lot that served as the marching band’s practice field is being filled in with dirt to be level with what was the stadium field.
Cain said there are no holdups, budget impacts or schedule impacts so far, despite the weather.
Morgan noted once the project “gets going,” there will be around 100 workers on site each day. Workers will park in the new gravel parking lot on the Higdon Property.
Commissioners board chair Josh Young said being on budget and on time is very important to him and asked about completion dates.
Cain said this summer Carroll Daniel will rebuild the lower student parking lot, next to the current stadium. This will ensure the completion of part of the project while school is out. The new parking lot will expand into the footprint of the current stadium, as the new stadium will be shifted more toward Phillips Street.
“April/May of [2026], we’ll turn that field over, the stadium and all its components, back to the school, so they could have football there, have their PE classes there…everything,” Cain said, noting that means from “the press box south to Wayah Street.”
Cain said either in April, May or the summer of 2027, the entire campus will be completed and turned over to the school for the grand opening for the first day of school that August.
After FHS moves into its new building, the demo will start on the current campus in summer 2027. Cain said they want to get the demo away from the active campus before school starts. The remade parking lot would have handicap spaces next to the stadium entrances. Previous site details had 216 spots in the lower parking lot and 26 in the upper parking lot. After the demolition of the current FHS, an additional 180 student parking spaces are to be built. Currently, there are 249 student parking spots between the lower, middle and upper parking lots.
By April 2028, all the parking lots and practice fields that will take up the former school space will be completed.
Interim County Manager Warren Cabe said the county is working with the N.C. Department of Transportation on creating a turning lane into Franklin High off Porter Street, where the main entrance to the school is. Cabe said that work will take place sometime in the next year.
Water lines under Wayah Street affecting campus will be worked on as well, which will cause some lane closures.
Cabe also said there are funds in the county’s budget to address the intersection of Phillips Street and Wayah Street, making it less steep for vehicles turning right from Phillips onto Wayah. That work will take place at the very end of the project, Cabe said.
Board member Gary Shields complimented Cain for speaking to the public at various events and being transparent about the project.
“Well gentlemen, we’ve partnered with the right team to build this high school,” said Jack Morgan, Macon County contractor who oversees the work on behalf of the county. “We’re off with a bang, these guys are, and I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Cain said they do a drone flyover of the property, which is published on the Macon County Commissioners, NC Facebook page. The videos will be compiled together for a time-lapse after the project is completed.