Major items at new Peters Township High School move toward completion
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
The new Peters Township High School opened in January at the former site of Rolling Hills Country Club, which closed at the start of 2016.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
The former Peters Township High School is being converted to the district’s new middle school.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
The former Peters Towship High School, built in 1968, soon will have a new designation.
The few major items that remain in the new Peters Township High School project are nearing completion.
During Monday’s school board meeting, Roshelle Fennell of construction management firm SitelogIQ provided an update indicating the school’s auditorium is to the point where an inspection is being scheduled with the township while final cleaning takes place. Electrical contractor Farfield Co. is finishing the room’s sound system, Fennell said.
“Once that area is turned over, we will then start the training on the various systems within the auditorium with everybody who needs to be involved,” she told the board.
Work also progresses on the natatorium.
“We started to set the pool equipment,” Fennell said.
“The lights have been installed, those above the pool and around the pool, and over the spectator area. The sound panels have been installed. We have performed some testing on the paint installation and are waiting for the results.”
Landscaping around the building has resumed, including the installation of grass plugs in the islands throughout the parking lots.
SitelogIQ also is providing management services for the conversion of the former high school to the district’s new middle school.
“It’s going really well,” Fennell said. “We’re actually getting ready to start putting some ceilings back in on the second floor.”
Framing has begun in the school’s new administration area in anticipation of the shipment of windows, with installation expected in mid-May. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units are on site, ready to be lifted onto the roof when it has been completed.
Contractors also have been working on sorting out the wiring that has accumulated in the building over the years.
“We tried to clean out all that ‘spaghetti.’ I think we did a pretty good job,” Fennell said, noting that district Director of Educational Technology Adam Swinchock has been consulted “so we know what to take out and what not to take out.”
Also with regard to the middle school, the school board Monday officially authorized its relocation from 625 E. McMurray Road to 264 E. McMurray Road.
When the school opens for 2021-22, it will include sixth-graders, as the board approved a resolution closing that grade at McMurray Elementary School.
The board also approved a $6,000 agreement with Architectural Testing Inc. for field-testing services at the high school related to leaks that have been occurring.
According to Ron Dunleavy, who chairs the board’s buildings and grounds committee, contractors disagree about the cause.
“The fact that some of this may go to litigation, it would be great to have third-party inspection,” he said.