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District to add to Lockley school, close 3
By jeanne starmack
new castle, pa.
The New Castle Area School District will renovate and add to the Harry W. Lockley Elementary School, the district has announced.
The school, at 900 E. Main St., now houses a kindergarten center. It will become a school for kindergarten through second grade.
Two new wings will be built, and the old building will be renovated into a 95,000-square-foot, single-story building.
One of the new wings will house kindergartners, and the other will house first- and second-graders.
The project plans have been in development since early July, the district said.
Abbie Betley, the school district’s assistant business manager, said the project will cost $19 million.
She said $15 million will come from a qualified school-construction bond, which is interest-free.
The remaining money will come from the district’s capital-reserves fund, she said.
Eckles Architecture and Engineering of New Castle is the architectural firm handling the project.
George Gabriel, schools superintendent, said the district is consolidating in the new building because of a decline in enrollment. It will close three other schools.
“Over the eight years I’ve been here, there’s been a significant decrease [in student body],” he said.
Closing will be Thaddeus Stevens, John F. Kennedy and West Side primary centers. The primary centers house grades one through three.
Gabriel said the intermediate school will house third-graders.
The district is in the process of buying 21 acres next to Lockley for one of the wings, Gabriel said.
He said the district is negotiating with the property owner on a purchase price.
The district is planning to solicit bids, to be due by the end of July.
Construction is set to begin in late August.
The new school is set to open in fall 2013.