Renovations and new construction for three elementary schools will officially move forward after the State College Area School Board on Monday approved final plans and authorized bidding for the projects.
In 2016, the board voted to move ahead with updates for Corl Street, Houserville and Radio Park elementary schools to bring them in line with the district’s other elementary schools. Lemont Elementary will merge with Houserville in a new K-5 building at the Houserville site. Plans have been developed throughout this year for renovations and additions to Corl Street and Radio Park and a new school at the Houserville site.
The board has previously approved plans at the 30 percent, 60 percent and 90 percent design phase.
Architectural firm Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates estimated costs for the projects based on low-bid estimates and mid-point soft costs. All three projects also will receive reimbursements through the state’s PlanCon program for school construction and the district has been awarded state grants of $1.875 million for Houserville and $1.96 million for Radio Park
For Corl Street plans call for 64,086 square feet of additions and renovations with three classrooms per grade. About 54,000 square feet will be new construction. The estimated cost is $17,628,718 and after reimbursement totals $16,392,711.
Total square footage for the new school at the Houserville site is 71,342 square feet with three classrooms per grade. The cost estimate is $20,651,474, and after PlanCon and the grant are applied the district’s cost is estimated at $17,602,532.
Radio Park has two possibilities. Additions and renovations with three classrooms per grade would result in 80,173 square feet. An alternate bid with four classrooms per grade would add 8,865 square feet of classroom space to the project total. The estimated cost for the base bid is $21,626,592 ($18,387,368 after reimbursement and the grant) and $23,025,894 ($19,525,928 after reimbursement and the grant) for the alternate bid.
District administrators have said during the planning process that if the alternate bid isn’t selected, it’s possible some students at Radio Park could be displaced for part of the 2018-19 school year because of the limited amount of space for temporary trailers on the site during the construction phases.
The bid opening date for the projects is Oct. 31. Administrators and the board’s Facilities and Grounds Committee will review the bids on Nov. 1. A special board meeting will be held on Nov. 8 and bids will be awarded on Nov. 13.
Construction is expected to begin in January with work for the three schools to be completed in the summer of 2019. The official vote to close Lemont Elementary is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2018.
In related votes, the board awarded bids for reconfiguring the district bus garage parking lot as part of the Radio Park project. A site and civil engineering bid $172,000 was awarded to Landserv, Inc. and an electrical contract for $83,570 was awarded to PBCI Allen Mechanical and Electrical.
Contracts also were awarded to low bidders for site preparation to install modular classrooms at Corl Street and Radio Park.
The electrical bid at Corl Street was awarded to Westmoreland Electric Services for $49,000 and the site/civil bid to John Spearly Construction for $104,792. For Radio Park, the electrical bid went to TP Electric and Power for $47,130 and the site/civil bid to Landserv for $91,000.
