Site preparation to begin for Austintown Middle School
The lobby will have a symbolic colonnade featuring principles of citizenship.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Site preparation will soon be under way for the new $26 million Austintown Middle School on Raccoon Road, which will replace the current 1916-vintage AMS on Mahoning Avenue.
Superintendent Stan Watson said Wednesday night the board of education plans to act next week on a resolution to advertise for bids for site preparation work for the new building.
A groundbreaking ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Oct. 11.
Site preparation would begin in that month, with construction beginning next spring and the building opening in August 2006, said Benjamin Pintabona, senior project manager with R.P. Carbone Co. of Cleveland.
The new building, funded by a 2.9-mill bond issue narrowly passed by voters last November, will be on the main schools campus, just south of the public library. The building will be built above the once in 500-year flood level of a nearby stream, known as Axe Factory Run, said John A. DeFrance, project architect. Any wetlands eliminated for the construction will be replaced with new wetlands created on the site, he added.
"We'll clean up a littered area as a result of this, and we'll create more of a quality wetland and a controlled wetland -- one that can be used for educational purposes," he said. The area along the stream is littered with concrete debris, tires and junk, he said.
Planned design
The building, designed to house 1,200 pupils in grades six through eight, will feature a three-story classroom wing along Raccoon Road, a two-story center section for administration and the media center, and a one-story western section, which will feature a cafetorium, vocal and instrumental music rooms and two gymnasiums. DeFrance presented computer-generated project drawings to the board.
The cafetorium, a combined cafeteria and auditorium with movable seats, will accommodate three seatings of 400 pupils each for lunch, and it can be used for theatrical and musical productions and dances. It will be built using acoustical materials "to help with sound absorption and control," and fully equipped with a stage, theatrical lighting, a built-in sound system and a projection room, said DeFrance, who is with Olsavsky-Jaminet Architects of Youngstown.
The lobby will feature a 29-foot ceiling with a row of six spotlighted tan columns, one each to symbolize respect, citizenship, caring, responsibility, fairness and trustworthiness, with built-in seats between the columns. The slogan, "What we learn here builds the pillars of character," will be inscribed atop the colonnade.
The school colors, red and blue, will be reflected in red brick between the columns and a blue upper wall.
Grade reconfiguration
After the new building opens, Frank Ohl Middle School, which is also on the main schools campus, will house grades four and five, and the elementary buildings will house kindergarten through third grade.
"This will be a nice benefit to have all the upper-level classes on one campus," DeFrance said. The new arrangement will allow the district to eliminate duplication and achieve economies in pupil transportation, staffing, and distribution of food, books and supplies and maintenance equipment, he explained.