Gateway making strides on middle school renovation, construction project

The Gateway School Board continues to move forward with the construction and renovation project of one of its middle schools.

The board unanimously approved four resolutions Feb. 16 related to the giant project, which involves renovating Gateway Middle School to accommodate fifth- through eighth-grade students.

One of the items approved allows the project’s architect, Axis Architecture, to advertise for bids related to the venture.

The board also approved a “debt ordinance,” which allows the district to secure up to $50 million by floating a bond. The district last did this in March, which capped that debt ceiling at $40 million.

“The $50 million amount is strictly for (Department of Community and Economic Development) advertising guidelines and simply provides for room and leverage on a maturity basis,” said Paul Schott, the district’ business manager.

Another item related to the project set the maximum project cost at $39,463,123. That item also gave Axis the green light to develop a project description to submit to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Eventually, the district will also schedule a public hearing and make the project description — known technically as an “Act 34 Project Description Booklet” — available to the public before the scheduled hearing.

That public hearing has not been scheduled.

The final item approved by the board approved a $13,000 lease agreement with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to rent a room at Evergreen Elementary for its Pre-K Counts Program. The program, historically, has been housed in a classroom at Moss Side Middle School.

However, once construction starts at Gateway Middle School, the students will move to Moss Side. So there will not be room for the AIU’s program.

“We haven’t approved the spending of a single dime yet,” said board member Rick McIntyre. “This is simply laying the framework.”

He said the board has not issued a bond and is not saying the board will spend $50 million on a building.

A construction date has not been determined, but the project’s construction manager, Foreman Programs and Construction Managers Inc., has estimated it could take 25 months once started.

Schott has said the project will lead to a property tax hike in order to pay for the renovation and construction.