New Stoneman Douglas High School building scheduled to open in August

A new building on the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will open in August to replace the site of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

The new 45,000-square-foot building will allow students to escape the temporary portable classrooms they have used since returning to the Parkland, Florida, school following the 2018 massacre, CNN affiliate WPLG reported.

It will also be “one more step we are taking to heal, to move forward,” School Board member Lori Alhadeff said, according to WPLG.

Alhadeff’s 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was one of 17 students and teachers killed nearly two years ago when a former student opened fire inside the school’s freshman building on Valentine’s Day. That building will be demolished at the end of the shooting suspect’s trial, which starts this summer, the affiliate reported.

The area around the new building will have “a very peaceful, tranquil, water feature with possibly an eagle, representing, overlooking the safety of this building,” Alhadeff said.

The $18 million structure will have 30 classrooms and new security features that include “controlled access points,” according to Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.

“Our goal is to make our campus one of the safest campuses in the country,” Runcie told the affiliate.