STATE COLLEGE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Community dialogues wrap up

By Ed Mahon

COLLEGE TOWNSHIP — About 60 people attended the fourth, and final, community dialogue on Tuesday night to give input on the State College Area School District's facilities master plan.

They also gave feedback on facilities not discussed at previous community dialogues, such as Memorial Field and the Fairmount Avenue Building during the two-hour meeting at Mount Nittany Middle School.

DeJong Inc., an Ohio-based planning firm, has been facilitating the district’s master plan process this year. About 100 to 110 people turned out at each of the two dialogues in the fall and more than 325 people attended the February community dialogue when options were presented. The fourth dialogue was not originally planned, but added later.

“I’m not too surprised,” school board President Rick Madore said of the smaller turnout. “I feel like the bulk of the work for our community dialogue had already been accomplished, and this was kind of the wrap-up.”

The board is scheduled to approve the facilities master plan, which lays out future construction projects, on June 23. But Madore said the board will “continue to be as transparent as we’ve been, so that (residents) know that at any point they can jump back into the conversation.”

The recommendations were compiled by the facilities master plan steering committee, which had more than 40 members.

Some participants disagreed on details of the recommendations for the Memorial Field and Fairmount Avenue sites and the administration offices, but there appeared to be general consensus on the major components of those recommendations.

There was sharper disagreement on Lemont Elementary School.

About five people spoke against the recommendation to combine Houserville and Lemont elementary schools into one K-5 school on the Houserville site.

Currently, those two operate as sister schools with kindergarten through second-grade students in Lemont and third-through fifth-grade students at Houserville.

Lemont residents such as JoDee Dyreson said they wanted the Lemont building to remain an elementary school through renovations.

“It is economically the most responsible. It is environmentally the most responsible. ... And I do think it’s very educationally responsible to keep the smaller schools,” Dyreson said.

Madore said he was planning to meet with some of the Lemont supporters. “If we continue to keep those lines of communication open, I think we’re gonna get somewhere,” he said.

SUMMARY OF BUILDING PLANS

Facility: Memorial Field, outdoor athletic facility that hosts football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse. It dates back to the Great Depression. Recommendation: Renovate Memorial Field and convert the Central Office building into a locker room, office and other support space. Estimated cost:$3 million to $4 million to repair Memorial Field; $3 million to $4 million to add athletic support facilities.

Facility: Central Office building, which houses most of the administration.

Options:

• Relocate central office functions to Panorama Village site after construction of the new Panorama Village is complete (estimated cost: between $2 million and $3 million).

• Relocate central office functions to Lemont site after sister schools are combined at the Houserville site (estimated cost: between $2 million and $3 million).

• Purchase or construct a new central office building (estimated cost: between $4 million and $5 million).

• Lease building for central office functions (estimated cost to be determined).

Facility: Fairmount Avenue Building, which houses the Delta Program and Hearts and Strides programs. Originally built as the high school in 1914, it's had significant additions and renovations in 1921, 1931 and 1942.

Recommendation: Delta Program and Hearts and Strides programs stay at the Fairmount Avenue Building. Part of the building would be taken down and the remaining portion would be renovated. Estimated cost:$5 million to $6 million.