The so-far unnamed school will be the most expensive ever built in this county of only 200,000 permanent residents and 1,400 lakes.

The school will house 1,864 students in August 2002 when the existing South Lake High School is expected to have an enrollment of 2,600.

Clermont is 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando and has been attracting new residents and businesses with its lower land costs and less expensive impact development fees. Lake County commissioners gave Orlando-based Ajax Construction Co. the formal go-ahead Monday night to continue with the project it had started in December.

Commissioners were shocked to hear the increase in construction costs, but Ajax officials reminded them the county was informed last summer costs could rise if construction wasn't immediately started. The 347,826-sf school is being built at a hard-and-soft construction cost of $115 per sf, up from a 102 per-sf cost quoted last July. The construction cost per student equates to $21,459.

Ajax's construction management fee is $2.34 million or about 6% of the total cost. Ajax defends the higher cost figure by arguing the basic school shell cost has not changed from the original $31.5 million quote. Commissioners argue that number doesn't take in the construction of an auditorium, closed-circuit television system and extra lawn sprinklers that brought the aggregate price to $40 million.

The cost for the new south Lake County high school compares with the $42 million tag on the 4,653-student University High School in neighboring east Orange County five years ago. That cost equates to $9,026 per student. University High is the most expensive school built in Central Florida, based on total cost figures, according to the Orange County School District.

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Most Expensive School in Lake County History Breaks Ground at $21,459 per-Student Cost

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