The New Kensington-Arnold School District potentially needs millions of dollars in maintenance and repairs to its buildings, but it doesn’t yet have a plan for how to get the work done.

The authorities want to develop a five-year plan for buildings and land. That could include projects ranging from renovating a loading dock for $35,000 to replacing boilers at HD Berkey Elementary School for nearly $1 million, according to Bob Pallone, chairman of the building and construction committee. school board lands.

Part of that plan will be taking a critical look at HD Berkey and determining how much the district is willing to spend on a building that is about 100 years old. The latter was renovated around 2000.

“We need to take a hard look at what we invest in,” Pallone said.

Replacing Berkey with a new building is an option being floated, but it would increase costs and bring its own set of problems — especially for the nearly 300 first and second graders who attend the school there.

If the district decided to replace Berkey, it would not own land where a new school could be built, Pallone said. The district might then have to decide whether it would change its classroom configuration, such as moving from a preschool to a sixth-grade configuration.

Currently, kindergarten is located at Martin Elementary School, while third through sixth grades are located at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School.

Although not all jobs have a price estimate, Berkey’s boilers are estimated to cost $915,000, according to an email to the board from Zachary Heidenreich, director of buildings and grounds, and provided by Pallone .

Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said there are no plans for construction work and what will be done to a building won’t be known until the district does a full needs assessment.

“It is a systematic assessment of indoor and outdoor spaces to determine current conditions, identify gaps and plan for future needs,” he said. “The primary objective is to measure whether or not physical facilities support operational objectives and security standards. »

Year by year plan

• As Heidenreich presented, capital projects in the first year of such a plan could include runway resurfacing, with costs ranging from about $142,500 to $259,000, and renovation of the high school auditorium, with new seats costing $270,500 plus ceiling and paint work.

• Year two lists Martin’s boiler at about $725,000, Valley High School parking lot, administration roof replacement for $188,950 and truck purchase for about $60,000.

• Berkey boilers appear in the third year. There is also a repair/renovation of the loading dock at $35,000 and painting of the lockers at the high school, at a cost of $60,000.

• Berkey’s floor replacement is in its fourth year and beyond, with no price listed, as are building improvements (windows, doors, insulation) in all buildings. Roy A. Hunt’s boilers cost $835,000.

Valley High School’s boilers were installed in 2013 and are not expected to need replacement for at least 10 years.

Renovations to student, faculty and locker room bathrooms would include replacing floors, plumbing, urinals and toilets, sinks, stalls and partitions, as well as new lighting and paint.

High school bridges

Adding to the district’s list of needed work is the discovery of buried pylons near Valley High School’s new pedestrian bridges. The discovery delayed work on the steps and a ramp needed to complete the bridges, Pallone said.

The pylons are so deep they cannot be removed, Pallone said. The discovery necessitated the preparation of new specifications for the stairs and ramp.

Stages of one of the twin bridges should be completed by the end of the month, Pallone said. The other, including a ramp, will need to be undertaken next year, after bad weather, Pallone said.

While the high school’s main entrance bridge was largely complete in August 2022, it took until this month for the guardrails and signs to be installed. Vehicle collision damage was also repaired.

Work on the bridges began with the hiring of an engineer in February 2021 to inspect them.