Lewes School renovation underway

Demolition has begun at the Lewes School, which will be renovated to become Shields Elementary. 

The maintenance building was recently taken down to make way for a new school bus entrance and parking lot off Sussex Drive, Cape Director of Capital Projects Brian Bassett said, and demolition of the Little Vikings wing should start in about a week.

Renovation of the century-old Lewes School into a new elementary school was overwhelmingly approved by 74 percent of voters as part of a March 2016 referendum that also approved new schools at H.O. Brittingham and Rehoboth elementaries, and renovations to Milton Elementary. 

Major upgrades at the Lewes School include air conditioning and new windows; historic elements such as the auditorium and gymnasium will be renovated.

The Lewes School formerly housed the Sussex Consortium, whose new building is currently nearing completion on Sweetbriar Road in Lewes.

The existing Shields building will eventually be demolished and replaced by the school district’s third middle school.