NEW CASTLE Demolition nears for school project

Opponents are asking the demolition be delayed.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Eleven of the 13 historical homes set for demolition to make room for a new city high school should be down by May.
Siegel Excavating of Edinburg was the apparent low bidder at $64,847. The company receiving the contract will remove any asbestos in the homes before demolition.
School board members expect to award the contract at noon Monday in the board meeting room at the Croton School. There were eight companies interested in the demolition, including two from New York and one from Ohio.
Project architect David Esposito said the bids were lower than expected. He estimated the demolition and asbestos removal costs would be $129,000.
Siegel already has demolished two homes near the school after they were damaged by arson.
Esposito said two houses on Berger Place will remain standing through construction and be used as office space for construction crews. They will be demolished after the new building is completed. School construction should begin as soon as the homes are razed, he said.
Plans call for a new educational wing to be built on East Street and Lincoln Avenue. When that wing is finished, the 90-year-old high school will be razed and a new arts wing built. Both wings will eventually be connected on what is now Reis Street.
Opposition: Jim Grossman of Deklewa Construction Services, project manager, said they expect to advertise for construction bids sometime in late March and award contracts about a month later.
Despite the plans, there are those who still oppose the project.
City resident Rosemary Henderson asked board members at Wednesday's meeting to hold off awarding the demolition contract until final project approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education is received.
The school district has state approval to demolish the homes, but is waiting for final approval on the building plan which is expected sometime in the next month.
Board member Andrea Przybylski, who ran on a platform opposing the new high school building, also asked school board members to wait, calling it premature to raze the homes before final state approval is granted.
Other board members, however, said they see no reason to wait since state approval is imminent.
"This school is going to be built and nothing is going to stop it," said board member Thomas DiMuccio.
"To hold up something that we know is going to be approved, I don't understand," said Peter Yerage, another board member.