Pupils
on the move again
Will be housed in modular facilities during
renovations.
Friday, July 02, 2004 • By LINDA LISANTI
• The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG -- The school district plans to place five
to seven more temporary classrooms outside the
Andover-Morris School.
The modular classrooms, to be installed on the existing
parking lot, are needed as "swing space" while the school at
712 S. Main St. undergoes renovations, officials said.
"When you renovate a school while it's in operation, you
run into the issues of what do you do with the kids when
you're renovating the classrooms," Superintendent Gordon
Pethick said this week.
Five classroom trailers already sit outside the
elementary school.
Starting in the spring, the single-story building built
in the 1970s will get a $6 million makeover.
All the existing rooms in the school will be renovated
and an addition will be built. The 17,900-square-foot
addition to the 23,800-square-foot building will house a new
gymnasium, library, multipurpose room and office space.
Officials hope to have the temporary classroom trailers
in place before construction begins. The entire project is
expected to be completed in September of 2006.
Pethick said the renovations are part of the school
district's long-range facilities plan. Eventually,
Andover-Morris will serve students in grades one and two.
Now, it serves grades three to five.
The upgrades, Pethick said, are necessary not only for
space but also so that the building can be brought up to
current standards.
Several of the classrooms will be enlarged because many
of them are considered small, according to current state
facility standards.
The school board this week agreed to hire Chester,
N.J.-based Gianforcaro Architects, Engineers & Planners
to design the building, conduct site surveys and prepare
construction documents.
The New Jersey Schools Construction Corp. will pay the
firm's fee and fund the modular classrooms and the school
renovations, officials said.
Gianforcaro is also the firm that carried out the design
work for the 10 trailers being installed outside
Phillipsburg High School.
The five double-wide classroom units are needed to deal
with the school's burgeoning population. About 150 students
are expected at the school this fall.
The new trailers are being placed on Clark Street
between Barrymore and Ferguson streets. They will join the
21 trailers that now sit outside the Hillcrest Boulevard
school.
Board member Frank Kish told the school board this week
that on any given day this coming school year, 50 percent of
the high school population will be in trailers.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004
The Express-Times. Used with permission.
|