Commissioners joined members of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education and community members on Tuesday for the groundbreaking of the Spring Ridge Middle School Limited Renovation and Addition project in Lexington Park.

As reported by Southern Maryland Newspapers Online, local officials dedicated funding to the renovation project following a fire at the school,

The St. Mary’s County commissioners put up $9.9 million in cash in the current budget to get the renovation going. “That surely was the catalyst that helped,” [Deputy Superintendent of Schools Brad] Clements said.

“It was a miracle how quickly the community came together” after the fire, Superintendent Michael Martirano said.

“Had it not been for the county commissioners forward funding $10 million … this project right now would not be occurring,” he said.

After the ceremony, Commissioner Dan Morris said, “I’m glad that this board jumped in and did what it had to do right away.”

For more information, see the Southern Maryland Newspapers Online. For more photos see St. Mary’s County.