Springdale Junior-Senior High School renovation projects could involve more work

Construction of restrooms at Springdale Junior-Senior High School will be contained to the auditorium lobby area.

In a consensus poll of Allegheny Valley School Board members, eight members agreed to that concept as presented by Terry Thompson of the Foreman Group, the design and construction services firm hired by the board. The ninth board member, Mary Ellen Ecker, was absent.

Another option that had been under consideration was to expand the new restroom area into a hallway in a classroom wing, according to Superintendent Patrick Graczyk.

Thompson said the new restrooms would be located on the left side of the lobby entrance.

“It takes up about 25% of your lobby, in the end,” Thompson said. “As I understand it, that’s not used very much.”

The school’s Hall of Fame plaques hang on a wall in that part of the lobby and would have to be relocated, he said.

“It’s a dead area,” board member Kathleen Haas agreed.

“I do think it will make the lobby smaller, but it won’t make it uglier,” board member Amy Sarno said.

Board member Larry Pollick reminded fellow school officials that the reason for the project was to make the restrooms wheelchair accessible.

Thompson said the current plans show doors being installed on the restroom entrances primarily to deaden noise but that could change. He said not having doors would make it easier for people using wheelchairs to use the restrooms and the doors can be removed if suitable soundproofing material can be located.

One snag, Thompson said, is that when one of the lobby walls was opened to investigate how it is constructed, a secondary structure was found in the wall. It’s something he has only seen once before in his 40 years in construction.

It is like having two structures supporting the roof, he said, and it was not anticipated.

Thompson said the situation would have to be investigated further and be addressed. That could increase the cost of the work which, in June, was projected to be around $1.4 million.

“In order to get this done by the next school year, I’d like to go out for bid no later than Dec. 15,” Thompson said.

He also updated the board on a second project Foreman is involved with: the repair of the exterior facade at the rear of the high school’s D wing.

Precast concrete panels of that wing have been shifting, according to Superintendent Patrick Graczyk. The panels were part of the high school expansion and renovation completed in 2012.

Although none of the panels have fallen, school officials last year closed an entrance that had been used by students as a precaution.

The cost estimate for that project is $1.7 million to $1.9 million, but Thompson said that could be reduced by $425,000 if repointing work on the masonry is eliminated.

The reason for the shifting panels remains unknown.

“For some reason, the way it was built, it is deteriorating and it will continue to deteriorate,” Thompson said. “We won’t know how much we have to tear down in the inner wall until we tear out the masonry areas.”

He would like to go out for bids on the work early next year, possibly February, and estimated the work would take two years to complete.

Thompson noted at least one positive development regarding the work.

“Prices are coming down,” he said. “Bidding is getting better.”