Mt. Lebanon School Board to review plans for new rifle range
The Mt. Lebanon school district may soon have plans for a new high school rifle range, according to information presented at the Sept. 8 school board meeting.
Kathy Stoughton, project manager and architect for Celli-Flynn Brennan, said drawings for a new range are “95 percent complete” and could be finished as early as Sept. 12.
“We’ve really tried to eliminate complications,” Stoughton said. “It’s all masonry walls. There is no excavation or abatement. Parts of this work can be done while kids are still in school.”
The rifle range was originally included as an add alternate in the bid documents for the district’s high school renovation project. Its fate has been a subject of debate ever since, mainly due to high cost estimates. A 2013 estimate from McKamish, one of the prime contractors on the project, put the cost of a new range with proper ventilation at about $410,000.
Ultimately the Mt. Lebanon school board decided to look at completing the rifle range as a capital project separate from the renovation.
Facilities project manager Rick Marciniak said that once the architectural drawings are finished, the administration will review them with the athletic director and rifle team coaches. The project could then be put out to bid.
According to school superintendent Dr. Timothy Steinhauer, the rifle team is currently practicing and competing at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsman’s Club in Canonsburg.