P'burg
board pares school project
District officials feared further delays in
getting $71 million building done.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 • By TONY NAUROTH •
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG -- No health center, no art gallery, no day
care center, no planetarium.
No pool, no indoor track, no enhanced sound system,
orchestra pit or lighting for the auditorium, and no
additional space for rehearsals or costume and scenery
storage.
All gone in a near-unanimous vote Monday night when the
Phillipsburg School District Board of Education put a stop
to a referendum that would have paid for community use
features planned to go along with the district's new high
school to be built in Lopatcong Township.
Voting against canceling the referendum was board member
Kevin DeGerolamo.
The board's vote was apparently the victim of a school
project already delayed several times; delays board
President Rod Pianelli called "hiccups."
The decision came "with great regret," as voiced by
several board members, including Patricia Babcock, who said,
"I wanted everything. I'm heartsick about it, but those kids
need to get into a new school."
The decision was reached after architects and officials
from the construction management company Heery International
and the New Jersey School Construction Corp. told the board
detailed plans for the new school were 50 percent complete.
They also gave it a new projected completion date with one
more hiccup -- a year's delay over the previous schedule
estimate.
Instead of opening in September of 2007, the newest
numbers push completion to 2008 or 2009 if too many
surprises show up down the road. Although Heery officials
said a lot of wiggle room is already built into the project,
they could provide no guarantees on the latest completion
date.
Herman Kolbe, regional director of design and
construction for NJSCC, said of the length of construction,
"I want to tell you 30 months, but I wouldn't bet on
it."
Although the team presenting the project update called
the newest timeline "conservative," Kolbe shrugged his
shoulders and said, "Is it a conservative date? I don't
think so. It's a realistic date."
The absence of a guarantee after yet another delay
seemed to drive the board's decision to cancel the
referendum.
Board member Frank Kish said, "These community features
would be nice to have, but it's the education of our
children" that's important.
Fearing another delay that might arise if the referendum
failed also drove the decision to stop action on the public
vote.
"We have to go on," said board member Bernard Brotzman
Jr.
Although the high school building is tagged at $71
million, preparation of the building site boosts the cost to
$100 million, NJSCC officials said.
The school would serve 2,000 students and relieve
overcrowding in the current high school near Route 22 in
Phillipsburg. Under the plan the existing high school would
become a middle school.
As of September, 1,763 students were enrolled at the
high school.
The new school would sit on a hilltop with a -mile long
entrance drive that would include an 8 percent grade as it
approaches the building.
Although the community use features are now gone from
the plans, one board member saw a ray of hope for the
future.
"We have room to expand up there," said Kish. "Let's get
what we can get now. We can add on later."
One member of the presentation team noted that the New
Jersey Department of Education was already giving the
district, which is an Abbott district, 23,000 more square
feet than it should be getting based on state school
construction standards.
"We saw a need in Phillipsburg for these community
uses," he said.
After the vote was taken, Kish remarked, "We started all
this when my son was in high school. He's 30 now."
According to its Web site, the NJSCC "provides services
to develop educational facilities for New Jersey's Abbott,
and over 55 percent state-aided, school districts in a
timely and cost-effective manner."
Tony Nauroth is local desk editor for The Express-Times. He
can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at
tnauroth@express-times.com.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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