Chris Whitfield/Daily Citizen-NewsOfficials with Whitfield County Schools, the Board of Education and architects and contractors break ground at the construction site at Valley Point Middle School on Monday.

DALTON, Ga. — Pat Giddens says there’s both sadness and excitement in the Valley Point community as people drive by Valley Point Middle School these days.

“I went to Valley Point. My mother went to Valley Point. My daughter went to Valley Point. My grandchildren went to Valley Point,” said Giddens, a member of the Valley Point Ruritan Club.

On Monday, Whitfield County Schools officials and others gathered at the school for the groundbreaking of a new Valley Point Middle School, which is being built next to the current school.

“We know this is going to be the best for the children, but there is a lot of sadness among Valley Point alumni. We just hope that it will continue the same strong tradition of school spirit,” she said.

Valley Point Middle School was built in the early 1950s as a high school.

“It’s got a number of structural issues,” said Superintendent Judy Gilreath. “There are some walls that are giving way. There’s plumbing issues. It’s not very energy efficient.”

The new school will cost “a little under $22 million,” according to architect Kenneth Harless with KRH Architects in Dalton.

About $6 million of that will be state funding and the rest will come from Whitfield County Schools’ projected $61 million share of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) voters approved in March 2017. ESPLOST is a 1 percent sales tax that expires Dec. 31, 2022.

The school system also plans to build a new North Whitfield Middle School with ESPLOST funds. It was built at roughly the same time as Valley Point Middle School.

“We are really grateful for the voters for approving the ESPLOST and supporting this,” said Board of Education Chairman Bill Worley. “We think it is going to make a big difference for our students.”

The new Valley Point Middle School will be about 107,000 square feet, compared to 85,000 square feet for the current school.

“We plan to move in in fall 2020,” said Mike Ewton, Whitfield County Schools assistant superintendent for operations. “The expected completion date is spring 2020, but we’ve built in a little buffer for weather and for the time it will take to move in.”

Several sixth-graders came out to watch the groundbreaking and expressed excitement at the idea of starting their eighth-grade year in the new school.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Ingrid Bautista.

Isaac Lopez said he’s looking forward to coming to school each day and seeing how construction is going.

“That will be fun,” he said.