Despite school closures, Bellefonte Area School District makes headway on elementary building project
Despite the statewide shutdown and coronavirus pandemic, the Bellefonte Area School District is moving forward with its proposed elementary school building project.
First introduced in 2017, the project could result in the renovation or consolidation its elementary schools. A feasibility study of all four elementary schools — which cost $25,000 — identified Bellefonte Elementary as needing the most and costliest of renovations. After being postponed due to uncertainty among board members, the district entered into contract negotiations with Hunt Engineers and Architects in February.
In a district podcast, board president Jon Guizar and Hunt representatives updated community members on the project timeline and leadership, including a committee established to oversee the project and its development.
“One of our goals is to support Hunt in their contract and be a liaison between them, and the district and the community,” Guizar, who chairs the committee, said.
Board members, administrators and community members with development experience sit on the committee which met last month to review project goals and the preliminary results of Hunt’s evaluations of Bellefonte’s elementary school.
“We’re well underway in that process, and we’re looking forward,” Guizar said.
Mike Jones, Darin Rathbun and Greg Barr of Hunt Engineers helped conduct the study of Bellefonte’s elementary buildings.
“We really think it’s important to look at every aspect of the building,” Jones said, adding that code compliance is a key factor to consider when collecting data. “Our report really includes a lot of specific items that build up to an overall recommendation cost. We look at every space of the building ... really exploring everything that’s needed.”
The preliminary results, Jones said, show that Bellefonte Elementary is in need of the most work; Pleasant Gap and Benner followed close behind — the same findings as in 2017.
“We’re not really out to develop this project that we want,” Jones said. “We want the data to provide the information for the district.”
Equality of facilities is a key component driving Hunt’s plan, Barr said.
To keep the project on schedule, Guizar said the architectural team and committee will meet virtually. The district is in the process of scheduling a community meeting to discuss concerns and hear feedback on the project.
In addition to an online forum posted on the district’s website, Bellefonte and Hunt plan to issue a survey to gauge community input on the project, Jones said.
“We’re currently working on the educational space planning which is the second piece to the condition of the building,” Jones said. “We did a visual inspection of all the systems, but now, we’re talking to the staff and the principals about how their building space doesn’t meet their curriculum needs.”
Originally, the school board wanted to decide on a project direction in June, but Guizar said that deadline is uncertain due to the coronavirus and school closures.
“If we feel that we’re getting a good pulse from the community that we can continue, absolutely, we want to do that,” he said. “But if we feel there’s some resistance to that, we cannot go forward with this project without huge community support and buy-in to the idea.”
Updates on the project will be posted on the district website and social media accounts.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 2:31 PM.
