BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Nearly 100 years after its start as a high school, Fountain Hill Elementary, with its open concept and lack of classroom walls, “does not forward the educational mission of the building,” district residents were told Monday.
Bethlehem Area School District leadership held a formal Act 34 hearing, required by state law, about the construction of a new school, closing out the planning phase of the building project.
The hearing informed the public about the plans and costs for the new three-story elementary school at the current Fountain Hill site at 1330 Church St., in the southwest corner of the district.
BASD leadership spoke Monday about the need for the new school, and the district’s partners highlighted the engineering, architectural and financial facets of the project.Testimony at Act 34 hearing for new Fountain Hill elementary School
BASD leadership spoke Monday about the need for the new school, and the district’s partners highlighted the engineering, architectural and financial facets of the project.
Superintendent Jack Silva shared the history of the current Fountain Hill building, noting it was first erected in the 1930s and used as a high school.
The building opened to elementary students in the early 1970s.
The school has been on BASD’s capital plan for replacement or renovation since 1991, Silva said.
Abatement and demolition of the current building will begin next summer. New construction will begin September 2025, and the new Fountain Hill Elementary School building will be finished July 2027.
The maximum building construction cost previously approved by school directors is $34.8 million, and the maximum project cost is about $62 million.
The total millage impact of the project is 0.63 mills.
Demolition and managing dust
The Act 34 meeting was sparsely attended. No one from the public spoke, but one written submission asked about the demolition process and measures to keep dust and debris out of the neighborhood during it.
“There will be a number of strategies used to contain the demolition debris, but not a full building containment barrier,” said Arif Fazil, an engineer with CHA.
Before the demolition, “any asbestos, lead or other potential hazardous components will be completely remediated in the building as though the building were going to be renovated,” Fazil said.
We’ve used similar techniques at other schools, and that’s worked very well to, number one, keep the contractors accountable, but also to provide assurances to the adjacent residents, as well as [the] community.Arif Fazil, engineer with CHA
That's done under full containment, with air clearance testing, and after that clearance is obtained, the demolition will take place.
The demolition process includes “making sure the materials are at all times wet, as well as managing any situations where dust may come off that,” Fazil said.
Materials also will be transported off site and recycled when possible.
There will be particulate matter testing every 10 days after a baseline test to verify that the processes are working, he said.
“We’ve used similar techniques at other schools, and that’s worked very well to, number one, keep the contractors accountable, but also to provide assurances to the adjacent residents, as well as [the] community,” Fazil said.
Residents' input still welcome
Residents still can submit views and reactions to the Fountain Hill construction project until 4 p.m. Oct. 24 by writing to the secretary of the board of directors at 1516 Sycamore St., Bethlehem 18017.
The next phase of the Fountain Hill project will be creating construction drawings, which are then bid on by contractors, Silva told LehighValleyNews.com.
“That’s really the point of no return in a construction project, when you award the contracts to the prime contractors. That puts the terms and conditions on as far as the actual building of the school.”Bethlehem Area Schools Superintendent Jack Silva
The district must take the most “competitive, qualified bid,” and contracts are then awarded.
All school construction projects are required by the state to have four contractors: general, plumbing, electrical and HVAC, or heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
“That’s really the point of no return in a construction project, when you award the contracts to the prime contractors,” Silva said.
“That puts the terms and conditions on as far as the actual building of the school.”
Other board news
At a board meeting before the Act 34 hearing, school directors approved the leasing of a section of district property at Freemansburg Elementary School to the borough at a cost of $1 for 25 years.
Freemansburg will create a parking lot for Gerald Yob Community Park.
Also Monday, school directors approved refunding two variable rate notes, which had underlying swaps on them. They were replaced with fixed-rate notes; $72.5 million was refinanced.
“You know exactly how much and when those are going to cost you,” Silva said. “That will help us [with] a little better credit rating, a little bit easier to borrow money at a better rate.”
“With some school construction projects coming up in the near future, it’s good to know what the debt service is going to look like.”
School directors also approved Monday the submission of an application for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency School Safety and Mental Health Grant.
If BASD gets the $377,604 grant, it will install vape detectors in its secondary schools and provide additional mental health services throughout the district, such as mindfulness programming, substance abuse prevention support and positive discipline workshops.
