With plans for a new elementary school in hand—but not the $13 million it’s expected to cost to build—the Ascension Parish School Board has purchased a roughly 12-acre lot at the intersection of La. 42 and Airline Highway for $975,000. “At some undetermined point in the future, we plan to put a K-5 school there, but we don’t have the funding to do it right now,” says schools spokesman Johnnie Balfantz. “In that area we want to help relieve schools with high student populations, such as Oakgrove Primary and Prairieville Primary, and we’ve also purchased other sites for future growth in other areas.” The deal closed Wednesday, and the seller was Level Construction—which also has a residential development called Bullion Crossing under construction on land next to the lot purchased by the school board. “We have 87 acres total there, and we’re planning to have 116 lots included in the first phase,” says Level Construction partner Todd Waguespack, adding that nearly all of the roads and utilities are complete in the development. Homes should start going up in the next few months, he says, and will range in price from $180,000 to $260,000. —Steve Sanoski
Editor’s note: This story has been changed since its original publication.
