FOUNTAIN HILL, Pa. — Fountain Hill Planning Commission voted Monday to recommended approving plans for the new Fountain Hill Elementary School, inching the project closer to construction.
Commissioners also recommended approving several requested waivers for the project that exempt it from parts of the borough's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and stormwater ordinance.
“The floor plans have been tweaked a little bit; there have been some adjustments back and forth, especially in some of the office suites. The classrooms haven’t changed much. We did reassign some contingency dollars to project costs.”Arif Fazil, president of D’Huy Engineering, a firm working on the new school
It’s the next step toward realizing the Bethlehem Area School District’s plans to tear down the old Fountain Hill Elementary and replace it with a new, three-story, 86,000-square-foot building on the same site.
Construction will cost about $62 million, according to district estimates.
The scope of the project has grown in recent months as the school district moves to improve areas used for picking up and dropping off students, but the project still is on budget, said Arif Fazil, president of D’Huy Engineering, a firm working on the new school.
“The floor plans have been tweaked a little bit; there have been some adjustments back and forth, especially in some of the office suites," he said.
"The classrooms haven’t changed much. We did reassign some contingency dollars to project costs.”
'Keeps us right on track'
On July 15, the borough zoning hearing board granted permission for the project to move forward as a special exception, along with several variances the project needed.
Among them were decisions allowing for a taller building and fewer parking spaces than zoning rules ordinarily allow; another ruling lets a food pantry and community center planned for the building move forward without a variance.
Next, the borough council will need to vote on whether to approve the submitted plans and the waivers BASD requested. Council members are not bound by the planning commission’s recommendation.
Monday’s meeting “keeps us right on track” to go before the council in October, Fazil said.
Construction is on track to begin in mid-2025, according to board documents. The new school is scheduled to open to students in 2027.
Before the planning commission meeting Monday, the Bethlehem Area School Board scheduled a hearing for Sept. 24 at which community members can share their comments on whether the project should proceed.
District residents interested in speaking at the hearing, scheduled for 8 p.m. at Broughal Middle School, may contact the school district secretary to secure a spot on the agenda.
Attendees who don't sign up in advance will be allowed to speak only if time permits.
