SHARPSVILLE, PA. School district faces choices for fire-damaged building

The board is looking at as many as five possibilities for the structure.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARPSVILLE, Pa. -- Should the Sharpsville Area School District rebuild the fire-damaged South Pymatuning Elementary School or just tear it down and walk away with an insurance settlement?
Those are two of the options the school board is wrestling with as it determines the fate of the structure, which hasn't been used as a school building since the district built a central elementary school in 2001.
The district still used the gymnasium at South Pymatuning as a wrestling room, but the building had only a single tenant, Vath Audio-Visuals, when it was damaged in a May 31 fire.
The blaze, caused by an electrical problem, destroyed the gym and caused extensive smoke damage throughout the building.
Vath Audio-Visuals has since moved to a new location.
The board had voted in November to lease 20,000 square feet in the building to a new Advanced Charter Enterprise School for $90,000 a year, but the fire killed that agreement.
The charter school has since located in the Mercer County Career Center near Mercer.
The options
The district has been negotiating various options with its insurance carrier, and all of the numbers are preliminary at this point, said Dr. Derry Stufft, superintendent.
One possibility is to rebuild the damaged portion of the building, a project that has an estimated cost of $2.7 million, Stufft said.
Insurance would cover the rebuilding, which also would require extensive cleaning, all-new heating units, removal of smoke-damaged ceiling tiles and windows and even light switches, he said.
There was a concern that the sizable restoration effort might bring into play a state mandate that says that if a school building is to undergo any extensive remodeling, the entire building must be revamped to come up to current state building standards.
Stufft said the state department of education has told Sharpsville that the rule won't be implemented in this case because it is an emergency situation.
Still, there is some debate over the wisdom of putting that much money into a building that is no longer needed as a school, said David DeForest, school board vice president.
Razing the building
Stufft said another option is to take an estimated $1 million insurance settlement and raze the building at a cost of about $150,000.
Sharpsville built recreational facilities behind the building, putting in a baseball field, a running track and a soccer field that it leases to the township.
The district would retain ownership of those facilities and perhaps work out a co-maintenance agreement with the township if the building is razed, Stufft said.
A third possibility is to raze the building but put up something smaller in its place that could be used as a wrestling facility or for other purposes, Stufft said.
That would carry an estimated price tag of $1.4 million and would be covered by insurance, he said.
The school board has asked for information on a possible fourth option, Stufft said, explaining that would involve razing the building but then doing some expansion at Sharpsville High School to add a wrestling room and enlarge the cafeteria.
An architect is looking at that now, and Stufft said he will take it back to the board as soon as some cost estimates are available.
Buying back bonds
DeForest said he wants the board to also consider a fifth option.
Sharpsville could take the $1 million settlement, raze the building and then use the remaining money to buy back some of the school district bonds floated to finance the new $12 million elementary school.
That would reduce the annual debt service the district is paying, and the board could then reduce the property tax millage by that same amount, giving the money back to the taxpayers, he said.
Stufft said the time is nearing when the board must decide.
Cold weather is approaching, and the building can't be heated to protect it from the elements. It also has only partial electrical service, he said.
gwin@vindy.com