The St. James Elementary School in the Burgess area will be replaced with a new facility, after action by the Horry County Schools Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 3.

The board voted unanimously to award the construction contract to Thompson Turner Construction of Sumter.

Lisa Bourcier, the school district’s communications director, said the school is being replaced due to the age of the facility.

She said parts of the school date back to the 1950s, including classrooms, administrative offices, the media center, the kitchen and the cafeteria. There have been two major additions to the school over the past 70 years.

The new school will be 134,000-square feet in size, and will have a capacity of 1,200 students. The district has budgeted $66 million for the project.

Design work and permitting activities will be conducted from January through the fall of 2026.

Construction is expected to take 18 months, and the new school is slated to open in August, 2028.

The old school will remain in use while the new facility is under construction. It will be demolished in phases after the new school is occupied, Bourcier said.

The new school will be built adjacent to the new facility on the same tract of land situated off Highway 707.

In addition to replacing an aging facility, the new building will allow the school to alleviate overcrowding.