By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

PELHAM – The Pelham Board of Education unanimously approved an agreement to sell the Riverchase Middle School property for $4.25 million to Shades Mountain Christian School during a meeting Feb. 23.

“This has been something we’ve been working at for a long time,” Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield said.

The sale is part of a roughly $50 million building plan for Pelham City Schools, which includes the construction of a new middle school.

“On behalf of Shades Mountain Christian School, our board members that are here, our faculty and staff, parents that represent our school, we want to say thank you to your board, Rick Hayes and Dr. Coefield, just for the opportunity to be able to do this,” Shades Mountain Christian School Board President Bill Vandiver said during the meeting. “It has been a long process, and we’re grateful for the way you guys have conducted yourselves through this.”

The agreement between PCS and Shades Mountain maintains that RMS will stay in its current facility for about two more years until construction of Pelham’s new middle school, Pelham Park, is completed.

Shades Mountain Christian School is set to take over the property in June 2017.

“I do want to thank them for the spirit they negotiated with us, and the patience,” Pelham Board of Education President Rick Rhoades said of the Shades Mountain school board. “I do think it is a win-win situation for all those involved.”

According to the PCS building plan, Pelham Park Middle School will be built on land in Pelham City Park and adjacent to Belle Vista Mobile Home Park.

The school should be ready for students by the 2017-2018 school year.