Trinity-Byrnes breaks ground on new academic building
Pictured at the Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School groundbreaking ceremony were (left to right) Dean Pack of Hunter Builders, Wayne Hunter of Hunter Builders, Dr. William Naso of the Trinity-Byrnes Board of Trustees, Stewart Hucks of USDA, Allen Griffin of First Reliance Bank, Tim Ellis of USDA, and Trinity-Byrnes Head of School Ed Hoffman.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School in Darlington held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 12,000 square-foot building on Wednesday, May 24 at their campus on Hoffmeyer Road.
The new academic building will provide state of the art classrooms for the school’s expanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum, with two of seven new classrooms designated as science labs. The building will also feature two seminar rooms, a meeting space, and a multi-purpose room/student dining hall.
“This program will enable us to hire more teachers and continue our service in the community,” said Trinity-Byrnes Head of School Ed Hoffman.
Current enrollment at Trinity-Byrnes is around 250 students, and the new building should help the school reach its goal of 300 students.
Chairman of the Trinity-Byrnes Board of Trustees Dr. William Naso lauded the new construction as a big step forward for the school, and he praised Hoffman’s vision as a major reason Trinity-Byrnes continues to grow.
“We’ve seen under Mr. Hoffman’s leadership over the last six years a nearly tripling of our enrollment. We’ve seen a tripling of our faculty. We’ve created jobs and opportunity and provided for the education of our children,” said Naso. “We have a vision that is just starting. This is the first of many projects which are going to grow our enrollment at Trinity-Byrnes. Not just for a certain amount of kids, but for a huge, diverse population, a student body…that wants to grow and prosper.”
Trinity-Byrnes partnered with Hunter Builders for construction and obtained financing for this project through First Reliance Bank and funding of $2 million from USDA Rural Development.
“Last year in Rural Development was one of the most – if not the most – successful years we’ve ever had. We invested over $1.1 billion in rural South Carolina,” said Tim Ellis of USDA Rural Development, adding that over $26 million was invested in Darlington County. “This building at Trinity is an investment in our future and the futures of our children.”