NILES MIDDLE SCHOOL Principal reports on status of building's construction

The board also bought one property and directed that two others be auctioned.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NILES -- Construction of Niles Middle School is on schedule and 64-percent complete, according to Bob Marino, principal at Edison Junior High School.
The $14 million, two-story building, which will house 650-700 pupils in grades six, seven and eight, is scheduled to open at the beginning of next school year.
The board of education approved change orders Thursday of $6,149 for installation of an additional 36-inch ice shield at the roof valleys and $8,965 for installation of additional science lab exhaust fans with grills.
Details about building
The new building on former woodlands at Third and Main streets on the city's south side, will feature sixth grade on the first floor and seventh and eighth grades on the second floor, fiber-optic cabling, two computer labs, a central digital video retrieval system, a science lab for each grade and five computer terminals per classroom.
Plumbing, wiring and drywall installation are under way. The building is under roof and all windows have been installed, Marino said. Access to the building will be from Brown Street.
Seventh and eighth grades are housed in the 1914-vintage Edison building, which is likely to be demolished, Marino said.
Sixth-grade classes will move from five elementary schools to the new building.
The board also bought a lot at 120 West St., next to its administration building for $20,000 from Leona Prebble. Superintendent Patrick Guliano said a house on the site is to be demolished and the property may be used for school bus parking.
The board also directed that vacant properties on Belmont Avenue (the former site of Monroe School) and on Carnegie Avenue be publicly auctioned, but reserved the right to reject bids at its discretion. "We may be able to generate some revenue there that would help us with repairs to our existing buildings, basically the high school,'' Guliano explained.
The board reappointed Fred Kubli Jr. for a seven-year term on the McKinley Memorial Library board and set its reorganizational meeting for 11 a.m. Jan. 3 in the McKinley High School library.