School board approves bids for $21M Mount Nittany Elementary project. Here’s what’s next
The State College Area School District’s plans to renovate and expand a growing elementary school took a major step forward this week.
The school board voted unanimously Monday evening to accept base bids for the $20.95 million project at Mount Nittany Elementary School, which includes the construction of a new building wing. Board members also voted unanimously to accept four alternate bids that will aid construction, reduce some project costs and upgrade school facilities.
Following the approval of the bids, work could begin as early as next month.
Here’s what you need to know about the project, its costs and what comes next as Mount Nittany Elementary prepares for significant upgrades entering 2025.
What is planned for Mount Nittany Elementary’s expansion?
Mount Nittany Elementary’s new third wing will include six classrooms, an instrumental music classroom and a separate cafeteria. The addition of a new cafeteria will allow the school to separate gym and lunch functions, as it currently uses a “multipurpose room” for both functions.
Construction will also include a bus drop-off loop and a parking lot near the existing parking area shared with Mount Nittany Middle School. The elementary school’s new wing will sit near fields and outdoor spaces, allowing it to serve as a primary entrance for after-school activities and events.
Overall, the project will add an estimated 36,627 square feet of new construction and renovate an additional 2,939 square feet at the College Township school, which opened in 2011.
The project’s total cost now stands at $20,946,400, or about 2.6% over prior estimates. The district plans to pay for the project using bond proceeds and capital reserve funds, though some elements will receive grant funding and other aid.
Total project expenses include financing, architectural, contingency, testing, inspection, regulatory and commissioning costs. Below are the project’s winning base bids:
- General — eciConstruction, $13,670,000
- HVAC — Silvertip, Inc., $3,278,000
- Plumbing — Silvertip, Inc., $920,700
- Electrical, — Lecce Electric, Inc., $3,184,000
What’s included in the alternate bids?
The board voted to accept four alternate bids and reject another two. The approved alternate bids reduced the project’s total costs by $106,300.
An accepted alternate bid for unclassified construction specifies that contractors assume responsibility for hitting any rock encountered during foundation and underground work. Additional accepted alternative bids add to the project a new building automation system for controlling HVAC systems and plans to construct a 450-square-foot addition near the rear of the new school wing for additional outdoor storage.
The approval of a fourth alternative bid will provide sod instead of grass seed for the school’s southern soccer and softball fields, allowing them to be ready for use again by as early as spring 2026 once construction is complete and they are no longer needed for staging. Moving forward with grass seed would have required additional growing seasons to prepare them for student use, leaving them sidelined until fall 2027 or spring 2028, district officials said.
The board voted to reject a proposed alternate bid that would have considered a solar array as a bid alternate addition and removed it from the base bid to lower construction costs. By rejecting the proposal, the solar array remains unchanged in Mount Nittany Elementary’s current renovation plans.
The project calls for the construction of a 157-kilowatt array on the south-facing roofs of the existing school. Mount Nittany Elementary’s planned solar array, which would be the second-largest in the district, will provide roughly 1% of the district’s electricity.
The district expects about 30% of the array’s $380,580 cost to come from federal Inflation Reduction Act funds, while another 30% could come from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Solar for Schools Grant Program. Funds from both programs would reduce the overall net cost to $152,232.
Even without Solar for Schools funding, the array is expected to pay for itself after about 11 years in operation. Mike Fisher, the district’s director of physical plant, said the array’s panels should have an approximately 30-year lifespan. The evening’s presentation noted the array will cover between about 70% and 80% of the new energy use spurred by the elementary school’s planned third wing.
“So, if we go ahead with this, once we’ve paid for [the panels], in 11 years we hope to get another 10 or 15 years of them,” said Deborah Anderson, the board’s vice president. “That’s going to save the district money in the long run.”
Finally, the board voted to reject an alternate bid that would extend the current stage in the school’s gymnasium by a few feet to add stairs to access the stage from one side rather than needing to go around through the hallway. District officials recommended rejecting the bid because the proposed design “did not meet the expectations.”
Where does the project go from here?
Work on Mount Nittany Elementary’s expansion could start as soon as January, the district estimates. If work begins on time, construction should conclude in time for the new wing to welcome students at the start of the 2026-27 school year.
The district plans to apply for nearly $1.1 million in IRA funding as reimbursement once the expansion project is completed.
Plans to renovate and expand Mount Nittany Elementary began in August 2023, when an attendance analysis found the school at capacity. Recent years saw two fifth-grade classes outsourced to the district’s administrative offices at Panorama Village.
District officials held an Act 34 public hearing on the plans, as required under Pennsylvania law, Sept. 30 and opened the project for bidding Nov. 18.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 1:00 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the board’s discussion about surplus solar power.
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