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CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. – Community leaders were on hand Thursday just off Andrews Store Road in Chatham County to break ground on the new site of Briar Chapel Middle School.

The new 120,000 square foot site will be home to a new $26.5 million facility that is built to be energy efficient and LEED certified, making it the county’s first green school.

County commissioners said they wanted to start construction in October 2008, but that’s when the financial markets crashed, and funding couldn’t be secured. Chairman George Lucier said the board decided to separate the middle school from the rest of the capital projects and just secure the money for that single project.

Commissioners were able to secure a 20-year loan for the school, which is a shorter time period than they originally planned. But they also hope to receive lower bids from construction companies that have been hit hard by the recession.

“We're going to come back in the summer and deal with some of our other projects, but we gave this top priority," Lucier said.

The main reason is that surrounding schools are overcrowded. North Chatham School, which has kindergarten through 8th grade, has 20 modular units.

Meanwhile, Perry Harrison School, which has a similar setup, has seven. Briar Chapel is designed to hold 650 students, though Superintendent Robert Logan expects the first year will open with 550 to 600 students to allow for growth.

School figures showed the total student population is 7,683 students, which officials said has grown by about 100 to 200 students a year over the past several years. Commissioners said growth in the northeastern part has been the greatest, partly because of its proximity to the Research Triangle and Jordan Lake.

The new school will be located in the midst of a brand new development that will total about 1,600 acres.

"This school is not only based on planning for the future to be able to accommodate that, the children and families are already here," Logan said.

Virginia Cross Elementary was the last new school that opened in Chatham County in 2007. Plans are also underway to expand Northwood High, while another new high school is in the works. That project has been pushed back until 2014 because of the economic downturn.

Even with all these plans, Logan hoped the schools could keep up with the growth.

"For just the number of houses that are already permitted in this county, especially in the northeastern section of Chatham County, we'll be back here in probably four or five years, building another [middle school]," he added.

Logan said he hoped the school would be ready by August 2010, but if there are any delays, the doors would open in November instead.