Renovate or build a new school? That's the question being posed in Hempfield Area

Officials with the Hempfield Area School District are gearing up to make a decision next month on whether they will renovate or build a new high school.

School board members this week unanimously voted to retain PNC Capital Markets LLC as underwriters once a project is chosen and hired Krakoff Communication to provide various services. Town hall meetings are scheduled to collect community input on three possible options for a high school project.

Board members are expected to choose an option during the March 8 meeting.

“We’re having the three town halls to get input on what the community feels that our project should be out of the three options, so once we vote on the option on March 8, then Core Architects can really focus in on the cost of what our project is going to be,” said board member Jerry Radebaugh, referencing the Bellevue-based architects hired for the project.

A decision on the possible project has been in the works since December 2020, when board members first discussed the possibility of construction at the high school.

At the time, they moved forward with a feasibility study that examined the district’s physical, educational and functional needs. The study also presented board members with options for a construction project at the high school and other district buildings. It was completed by Core Architects and SitelogIQ, which was hired for construction and management services.

Those options include: renovation, which would consist of upgrading certain areas of the building, costing around $81 million; revitalization, which would take the building down to its structural system and replace everything as new, costing between $97.4 million and $109.9 million; and a rebuild, which would result in a new high school, costing $122 million.

The town hall meetings are scheduled for Wednesday at Wendover Middle School, Feb. 28 at West Hempfield Middle School and March 3 at Maxwell Elementary School. Meetings begin at 7 p.m. District administration, Minnesota-based SitelogIQ and Core Architects will share the status of the project so far, options being considered and a timeline.

Once a project is chosen, Core Architects will compile a schedule of how much the project is going to cost “and then we can start movement to float the bond,” Radebaugh said. Board members heard from eight underwriting companies before deciding to move forward with PNC.

“Each presenter kind of brought a different view of how we can do things and some brought different aspects but in the end, we all thought that PNC was the best offering,” he said.

In addition, Carnegie-based Krakoff Communication was hired to support the district’s strategic communication plans. They will be tasked with marketing, communications, public relations and graphic design services in relation to the project. Cost will not exceed $25,000 for 18 months.