Norfolk has a beam signing on the calendar this afternoon for the new Maury High School, a four-story building planned for more than 1,700 students. The ceremony is the public marker on a job that has already moved fields and utilities and is still aimed at a fall 2028 opening.
The City of Norfolk, Norfolk Public Schools and Heartland Construction are scheduled to host the signing at 3 p.m. at 322 Shirley Avenue, with remarks planned from Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander and Superintendent Jeff Rose, WAVY reported.
A New Building Beside The Old One
The plans call for outdoor learning spaces, pedestrian pathways and enhanced facilities, and for a modern, high-performing environment meant to support diverse student needs. The stated design goal is to keep Maury's historic structure in the picture rather than erase the campus and start over.
That split is written into the later construction phase. Non-historic parts of the old school are the pieces scheduled to come down, and the space is supposed to become additional parking. The historic building is the part the project says it is keeping.
The city's project page calls Maury Norfolk's oldest high school and says it was built in 1911. Norfolk Public Schools says the original school opened in fall 1910. Those are two different claims about the founding year, and neither account settles the other.
Two Finish Lines, Not One
Opening day and the end of construction are not the same date. In an Oct. 5 update, The Virginian-Pilot reported that phase two, covering the new school building and most of the site work, was scheduled to finish in summer 2028, in time for the 2028-29 school year.
Phase three was planned to finish in January 2029. That phase is the demolition of the non-historic sections, the added parking, and completion of the turf field. Students could be in the new building while the lot and the field are still unfinished.
Heartland is the builder as well as a host of today's signing. At the Jan. 9 groundbreaking, a company vice president said the project would be delivered on time. More than 100 people attended that ceremony, including city leaders, School Board members, students and community members, the district said.
The Students On The 2028 Clock
Two ninth-graders in that January crowd had a more personal deadline. Aubrey Burke and Jack Kinninson were expected to be seniors when the new building opens in fall 2028. A beam signed in November 2026 is, on that schedule, something they would see as sophomores, not as incoming freshmen.
Students have already been asked to look at the rooms, not just the renderings. A construction update said they toured model classrooms and lab spaces and gave feedback on furniture, finishes and layouts.
What Has Already Moved
The first construction stage relocated the baseball field, the softball field and utilities, and it finished in August, the Pilot reported. Part of Llewellyn Avenue near the school, previously closed for utility work, reopened in late August.
An earlier update described the campus moving upward: vertical work was visible, the first concrete floor slab had been poured, and the first elevator shaft was finished. Additional stair towers were set to follow, while work continued on foundations, underground utilities and stormwater systems.
The 3 p.m. signing marks a project checkpoint. The dates that will show whether the schedule holds are still summer 2028 for the building and January 2029 for the parking and turf field that follow it. The city posts project information at norfolk.gov/newmauryhighschool.
