Construction underway on New Community Dining Hall
The new building will feature seating for 475, providing a much larger dining space to accommodate Rabun Gap’s growing community.
Rabun Gap’s central campus is alive with exciting activity as we have broken ground for the New Community Dining Hall and work is well underway. With consistent enrollment growth and expansion over the past five years, the School prioritized this much-needed facility in its most-recent and successful fundraising campaign.
The beautiful 15,500 square-foot brick building will seat 475, providing a much larger dining space to accommodate Rabun Gap’s record enrollment. The building will also feature a foyer, boardroom, dining room, expansive serving area, and a modernized and energy-efficient kitchen. Located beside the historic Addie Corn Ritchie Dining Hall, which opened in 1954, it will incorporate a variety of seating options, including a large outdoor patio and space for hosting on-campus events for students, community groups, and alumni gatherings.
Other unique design features to be celebrated are: a north side solarium dining area with large windows to showcase the mountain views, an open second story to capture natural lighting, local millwork to reflect the talents of area craftsmen, and a floor-to-ceiling interior fireplace to provide warmth and character to the large open dining space.
Thanks to the generous support of donors, the project is fully-funded by private gifts. Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School launched the “Share our Table” campaign for the project last fall, exceeding the $7 million goal. The campaign raised $7.23 million to fully meet obligations for the Community Dining Hall which includes a $1.2 million building endowment to support the future of the building. Additionally, $200,000 of the total raised will support the renovation of the Addie Corn Ritchie Dining Hall into a refurbished student center complete with gathering space, grill, campus store, recreation area, and post office.
“It is not an overstatement to say that the impact of this campaign will transform our campus both physically and philanthropically. This building in the heart of campus will support and grow the spirit of community, a true hallmark of our school,” said Head of School Dr. Anthony Sgro. “We are especially grateful for our lead contributors whose vision and generous support helped to bring this much-needed facility to our students and faculty, and we are humbled also by the support of parents and grandparents, trustees, alumni, faculty, and friends who helped us reach and exceed the fundraising goals for this exciting project.”
Co-chairs of the Campaign Committee were board members Ritchie Williams and Terri Pendergrast, both great-grandchildren of School founders Addie Corn and Andrew Jackson Ritchie. Additional committee leaders included board chair Margaret Carton, board members; Head of School Dr. Anthony Sgro, and Associate Head of School for Advancement Paige Spivey.
Rabun Gap is working with Atlanta-based Collins Project Management and Cooper Carry Architects. Carroll Daniels Construction of Gainesville, GA is the contractor on the project.
The Community Dining Hall will open to the School community in Spring 2019.
Follow photos of the construction process here.
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School
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Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a private, coeducational day and boarding school for grades Pre-K through 12. Centrally located between Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC, we prepare young people for college, career, and a lifetime of leadership and service.
