Ground has been broken for an addition at the former Carolina Classical School building in preparation for Polk County seniors to have a new meeting place.

Polk County last year purchased the former Carolina Classical School near Columbus to house a new senior recreational facility that will replace the current Meeting Place in Tryon. Plans are to construct a new commercial kitchen at the former school and do minor renovations to the inside.

Ground was broken a few weeks ago for the construction of the commercial kitchen addition, and behind the scenes work, including submittals and shop drawings, is currently being done for the addition, which will be a pre-fabricated structure.

Work is scheduled to begin onsite in a few weeks with the delivery of the building scheduled for July 27, according to the county&squo;s architects.

Polk County purchased the former school and almost 28 acres of property off Skyuka Road last year for $1.2 million and budgeted $500,000 for renovations.

Plans are for the construction to be completed sometime near the end of this summer with the Meeting Place relocating to the new facility sometime in the fall.