ALLENTOWN: School building on target

by Jessica Ercolino, Staff Writer
   ALLENTOWN — Despite challenges from the winter weather, construction of the new middle school on Breza Road is on time and on schedule, Superintendent Richard Fitzpatrick said this week.
   The approximately $50 million project is between 17 and 20 percent complete and the building is expected to open by the start of the 2010 school year, the superintendent said.
   The new middle school, which will total about 134,000 square feet, will include a 500-seat performing arts center, media center, two gymnasiums, seven new athletic fields and art, music and technology classrooms, according to the district’s executive summary of the project.
   The school has often been called a necessity for the growing district, which has had elementary and middle schools taking classes in trailers and rotating classroom space.
   Voters passed two separate referendums for approximately $37 million and $13 million in 2004 and 2007, respectively, to fund the middle school project.
   Recent weather conditions — particularly rain and freezing temperatures — have made construction tasks at the Breza Road site more difficult, the superintendent.
   ”It goes from one extreme to the other,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “They’re moving mud around and then they’re removing ice from surrounding trenches to continue construction work.”
   He added that most aspects of construction “start with plumbing, which can sometimes be delayed if the weather is bad,” but that electric and heating, ventilation and air conditioning would follow.
   Once the weather gets warmer, the project’s completion rate will increase, the superintendent said, but the project has still had “excellent success.”
   Nearly all of the building’s footings are complete and steel has been erected in three of the building’s five sections, while a temporary roadway is being constructed to allow equipment vehicles access to the site. Floor slabs will be poured as soon as weather permits, he added.
   ”I’ve seen how hard they’re working to keep pace. The plumbers and others have doubled their crews when the weather is good to really max out those good days,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “I continue to be pleased with quality of workmanship and cooperation of all the contractors. They make every day productive.”
   The general contractor on the project is Ortley Beach-based Chanree Construction.
   Workers are expected to begin pouring footings for a small bridge crossing over a ravine on the property by Feb. 17, the superintendent said. The prefabricated bridge will arrive at the site by the beginning of March and will likely be completed by the end of the month, he said. The school will have a brick exterior, Dr. Fitzpatrick said.
   ”Our goal was to have a classic exterior consistent with the architecture in the district,” he said. “I think it will be something the community will be proud of and will have appeal for many, many years.”
   He added that the Board of Education will likely be approving final interior selections next month, including flooring, ceiling, lockers, bleachers, tiling and “even the grout to be used in the bathrooms.”
   ”Everything has to be selected. There’s no such thing as standard,” he said. “We have tried to manage this early on and we don’t expect anything to be delayed because of a failure to make choices.”