Principal says $20M school renovation will transform South Fulton Co. community

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A $20 million project will give new life to a South Fulton County school building that once only served black students.

“We want to keep as much of the facility and building as we can,” said Dr. John McMaster

But one thing leaders at Landmark Christian School are happy to get rid of is what the Fairburn campus once perpetuated.

“This building was originally constructed in 1947 and it was just kind of a square box, with a basketball hoop on the drawings we saw,” McMaster said.

Blueprints show it was first the "Fairburn Negro School" in the 1940's, then "Fairburn Colored Elementary and High School" in the late 1950's before becoming Fairburn Elementary. It then sat vacant for years.

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“We want to renovate it and turn it into one of the most innovative schools in the state, in the country,” McMaster said. “Do that for the Lord and for our community.”

Channel 2’s Wendy Corona took a look inside the school where the major renovation is happening in phases. The school will eventually open in the fall of 2020 and become home to about 360 high school students.

“We're excited about the growth that God is bringing,” McMaster says.

Landmark Christian School has owned the property for years. Fencing is up and the plan for progress is full steam to raise funds to change the story for a building that once stood for division. With its restoration also comes healing.

“We get to open this up to every student, every kid in a school that was once used to divide families we get to do it now in a way that unites everybody,” McMaster says.

School leaders said some parts of the school will have to be demolished, but they are thrilled to transform the school into something the city and the community can be proud of and call theirs.

Cox Media Group