Plenty of improvement projects are underway in the Hall County School District with school out for the summer. One of those projects is the new courtyard at Lanier Charter Career Academy (LCCA) in Oakwood.
The courtyard will be built on the same location where an iconic oak tree stood outside the campus, a 125-year-old tree that had to be taken down last fall because it was in bad health. The oak was used as a symbol in the school's logo and in the name of the student-run cafe and other businesses at LCCA.
"We took it down last fall with the understanding being that we were going to make some very special things out of some of the wood that came out of it, and we would build back that area and plant multiple trees that would make that area better than it ever was," said Superintendent Will Schofield at a meeting this past week.
LCCA Executive Director Dave Moody gave an overview of the project plan to Hall County School Board members at the Monday evening meeting. He said the idea is not only to make the space aesthetically-pleasing, but also to make sure it serves as an outdoor learning space, especially for culinary arts students.
"In addition [to hardscaping] we're going to do an edible garden area. All the landscaping and softscaping will be edible products that can be used in our cooking," Moody said.
Moody said in addition to serving as outdoor classroom space, the courtyard will be an area that can be rented for special events.
"The center piece [of the space] is going to be for meetings and events," Moody said. "We've already had a couple of weddings at our venue and we're hoping that this will create an outdoor space that will be used for weddings, as well."
Moody said local businesses have already agreed to partner with LCCA to provide grills for the outdoor cooking classes. He said he's hoping that some landscape companies may join the project, too.
The old oak tree has not been forgotten in the plans, according to Moody.
"In the middle, there's a marker there for a tree plaque - we're going to mark where the tree was," Moody said.
Then, on the edge of the courtyard, the school system will plant three oaks to anchor the space.
Moody said he anticipates the courtyard will be ready to use by October.
