New parking lot slated for Pearl River Elementary

Pearl River Elementary School is getting a new parking lot.

Construction started on the new $315,000 parking lot in mid-August and has a completion date of mid-October.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben said he approved the new parking lot because the school had outgrown the current parking lot.

Staff members were having to park in a field north of the school where the new parking lot is now being constructed, Ben said, adding a new parking lot will be more efficient and safer.

"They recently in the last two years added a new wing on to the elementary school which created more classroom areas, and the teachers didn't have adequate parking," said Eddie Sam, director of Construction Management for Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. "The teachers were having to start parking out on the field."

Sam said the new parking lot also will help traffic move more smoothly and give teachers, students and parents more room to park as the new parking lot accommodates 61 cars.

"They are also adding two new sidewalks," Sam said. "One will go to the existing school, and the other sidewalk will go over to the new school area." After the new parking lot is complete, Sam said they will begin work on phase 2 that includes resurfacing the existing parking lot and adding a secondary exit.