Haenam-gun Transforms Closed School Site into Innovation... Becomes Business Demonstration Complex

First Case of Corporate Investment Attraction Using Closed School, Excellence Award at Active Administration Competition

Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, is attracting attention for innovatively transforming the site of a closed elementary school into a new industrial complex.

According to the county on the 8th, Hwasannam Elementary School was closed in 2018 due to a decrease in the number of students. Since then, efforts have been made to utilize the site as a cultural and artistic facility, but initial remodeling costs and operational burdens have made it difficult to find a suitable use.

Accordingly, Haenam-gun, together with H&B Asia and H&B Farm, has planned to transform the site into a climate change response fruit tree demonstration complex, and construction is currently underway.

In November of last year, a business agreement was signed with H&B Asia and H&B Farm.
[Photo by Haenam-gun]

H&B Asia is a distribution company holding the exclusive rights to Envy apples in Asia, pioneering the global fruit market through H&B Farm and H&B South America branches.

In particular, through the "Haenam Project," they aim to produce high value-added fruit trees and discover representative fruit tree varieties. To this end, they are establishing a fruit tree demonstration complex to identify fruit tree varieties suitable for the environment.

The site of Hwasannam Elementary School in Haenam covers about 20,000 square meters of land and 1,585 square meters of buildings, where a fruit tree demonstration center and cultivation greenhouses will be constructed.

With the relocation of H&B Farm’s headquarters to Haenam, new fruit tree varieties will be cultivated in isolation here. This case of innovative reuse of a closed school site through joint efforts of the company and the county is gaining attention.

This project secured funds necessary for initial remodeling and operation through corporate investment attraction and is evaluated as an innovative case that reduces costs by collecting fees for the use of public property.

The county is satisfied with the phased achievements, as construction proceeded after thorough prior discussions and agreement signing to ensure stable corporate settlement.

A county official expressed expectations, saying, “This is the first case of attracting investment by leasing closed school sites to agro-food companies, serving as an advanced model for utilizing closed schools in agricultural and fishing areas. We believe it will also help create jobs and revitalize the local economy through fruit distribution, the influx of young farmers, and returnees to farming.”

The new industrial complex blossoming on the site of the closed elementary school in Haenam is expected to contribute to regional economic revitalization as well as climate change response.