School’s out for summer, but the scene at Ferguson Township Elementary, in Pine Grove Mills, is a hive of activity these days.
Dozens of construction workers are pushing hard to finish the school-overhaul project there by Aug. 30, the first day of the 2011-’12 school year in the State College Area School District.
School officials said they expect the work will be almost entirely done at that point. Some finishing touches may need to be completed in the first week or two of school — during evening and weekend hours.
But ‘I don’t think there’s any calamities in the works’ in the final weeks of construction, district physical-plant director Ed Poprik said.
Work on the $16.58 million overhaul-and-upgrade project began about a year ago. A relatively rudimentary classroom wing built in the 1960s — with little to no insulation, according to facilities workers — has been torn down, leaving behind the 1930s-era original wing that faces state Route 45.
A new, two-story classroom wing has been built parallel to that original wing, farther back on the school property. A new third wing, at the west side of the property, connects the original wing with the new one; it includes a naturally lighted corridor and a new all-purpose room, to be used for gym classes and mealtimes.
The original wing, along Route 45, will retain much of its character but is being brought up to contemporary code standards. It will house the school’s administrative offices, space for art and music classes, and the school library. The library, in fact, will be in the space formerly used as the all-purpose room.
Workers now are concentrating their efforts largely on outfitting that original wing, Poprik said. He said work on the new classroom wing is largely complete.
Like the new Mount Nittany Elementary School being finished near Boalsburg, the redone Ferguson Township Elementary will have 18 classrooms for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. It’s expected to house between 400 and 500 students in its 64,500 square feet.
Both buildings also include a number of environmentally oriented features, outlined in this earlier report.
Mike Spicer, a supervisor with the district physical-plant office, provided StateCollege.com a tour of the Ferguson Township facility this week. Photos are posted in the gallery to the right. (Click on the image to open the gallery.)
Earlier coverage
