Lanning Square Elementary School

CAMDEN — State and local officials have scheduled a community meeting tonight to discuss the future of the long-awaited new Lanning Square Elementary School on Broadway.

The New Jersey Schools Development Authority and members of the Camden City School District are inviting comments from the community about the school at Cooper University Hospital at 7 p.m. in suite 401, at 3 Cooper Plaza.

In August, the city Board of Education approved a $44.8 million plan for a two-story facility with a cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, media center and more than 30 classrooms. The 90,000-square-foot school would serve about 615 students. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2010 and be open by the 2012-2013 school year, officials from the state Schools Development Authority said.

The old Lanning Square Elementary ceased serving students during the 2002-03 school year due to structural problems. Last summer, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced the money for the new Lanning Square School at a press conference at the Fetters facility, which was built in 1875.

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Students who should be attending Lanning have been placed in facilities at Fetters and Broadway elementary schools. Broadway was built in 1868, said school district spokesman Bart Leff.

"The Lanning Square building is extremely important because (students are) currently attending two schools not conducive to a 21st century education," Leff said.

All 45 parcels needed for the site should be acquired shortly, and of the total cost, $31 million is for the school, with the remaining money set aside for purchasing land, design, and environmental remediation to remove several underground tanks from a former gas station, officials said.