Situated near where I-77 and I-26 meet in the West Columbia area, the South Carolina Department of Education has made its new home.

Located at 428 Wholesale Ln. in Lexington County, SCDE’s headquarters is 150,000 square feet, according to a press release.

SCDE headquarters have been located at the Rutledge Building located in downtown Columbia for the past six decades, and the department made the big move to Lexington this past June.

"This is a beautiful representation of the reality that the educational success of our students is a shared civic endeavor that requires each of us to do our part," State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said in the press release. “[T]his Department will serve as a point of pride for all who see.”

This project was made possible by a public-private partnership.

“The Rutledge Building stood sentry over South Carolina’s education struggles and triumphs as the home of the Palmetto State’s education mission and thousands of committed SCDE employees," Weaver said in the release. "And now, we celebrate the turning of yet another page and the opening of a new, hope-filled chapter in South Carolina’s education story."