Marion County Public Schools will officially break ground next week on a $63 million middle school designed to serve the Silver Springs Shores community.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Lake Weir Middle School is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, at 9:30 a.m. The event will be held at the future school site, which is located at 685 Oak Road in Ocala.
The 30.09-acre property is situated just over a mile northwest of Lake Weir High School and just over a mile northeast of Emerald Shores Elementary School.
Global construction firm Skanska is leading the project under a contract valued at approximately $62,698,806.77.
The architectural design for the project was handled by PBK and Harvard Jolly, which was approved for the contract in 2024. Records show an estimated construction completion date in late June 2027. The new campus is slated to open its doors to students in August 2027.
Once completed, the school will feature 43 modern classrooms, a gym, a cafeteria, and an auditorium, alongside an outdoor track and fields for baseball, softball, and soccer. The three-story, 141,000-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate more than 1,400 students.
The groundbreaking is free and open to all, and members of the public are invited to attend. The program will include remarks from several local and state leaders, as well as performances by the Lake Weir Middle School Band and the Lake Weir High School JROTC Color Guard.
Skanska was prequalified for major construction projects for Marion County Public Schools last year. Founded in Sweden in 1887, the company employs over 32,000 individuals around the world, including more than 6,300 in the United States.
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