YOUNGSTOWN Board OKs design for school

The new East Middle School will likely be adjacent to North Elementary.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The board of education has approved a design for the new Taft Elementary School, which will replace the school at 3115 Gibson St.
The design, prepared by Hanahan-Strollo architects, is for a building that will house 485 pupils, compared with the current 337 pupils. Demolition will be in July. Construction is to start in late summer or early fall and take two years.
The board also approved specifications Tuesday for space requirements for various programs for the new East Middle School. It is likely to be built on board-owned land adjacent to North Elementary School, said Anthony DeNiro Jr., director of administrative services.
It will house 535 pupils, about the same as now. Construction could start in the spring of 2003 and is expected to take two years.
A site near Parker Street and Garland avenues, which was originally selected for that building, had space limitations because of wetlands and the course of the yet-to-be-built Hubbard Expressway, DeNiro said.
West addition: The board also approved amended specifications, prepared by Ralph Tyler Cos. of Cleveland, for space requirements for an addition on the new West Elementary School, which will be built at Schenley Park and house 821 pupils, about the same as the school at 134 N. Hazelwood Ave.
Construction should start in November and take two years.
Local share: The board adopted a resolution providing for the issuance and sale of $33.2 million worth of notes, in anticipation of the issuance of bonds, to pay for the local share of the six-year $173 million construction and renovation project, in which Taft, East Middle and West are included.
The local share was provided by a bond issue approved by the voters, and the state is funding most of the rest of the project cost. Planning for the project is on schedule, DeNiro said.
Princeton and Jefferson schools are being prepared for occupancy this fall by pupils who will be displaced temporarily by the construction.