POTTSTOWN PA – Architects tasked with designing the proposed renovation and expansion of the Pottsgrove School District‘s Ringing Rocks Elementary School got district approval Tuesday (Sept. 8, 2009) to submit paperwork that officially asks the state to help pay for part of the estimated $17 million project.
Front entrance at Ringing Rocks Elementary School.
The district Board of School Directors, unanimously and without comment, authorized Gilbert Architects Inc. of Lancaster PA to send what are known as PlanCon documents to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for review and, board members hope, eventual approval. The reimbursement is likely to be somewhere between 12 and 20 percent of the cost, or up to about $3.4 million, Gilbert representatives said in April (2009).
PlanCon is an abbreviated reference to the Planning and Construction Workbook that contains the state’s reimbursement forms and procedures. Gilbert’s submission on Pottsgrove’s behalf will be in two parts: PlanCon A, in which the district will attempt to justify why Ringing Rocks must be rebuilt; and PlanCon B, which tentatively shows how it will be rebuilt.
The review process will take about a year, Gilbert Vice President Harry Pettoni said.
In Ringing-related news Tuesday, school board members learned:
- A proposed schematic drawing of the building, based primarily on earlier board discussions, was submitted last week (Sept. 3, 2009) to Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township officials for review. Gilbert hopes to make an initial presentation Sept. 21 (2009) to the township Planning Commission, even though it will be months until board decisions on the renovation and final drawings are completed.
- Gilbert representatives have scheduled several meetings with teachers and others at Ringing to get their detailed comments on how they use building facilities, and what they believe the renovation should include.
- Gilbert also held its first meeting earlier Tuesday with the district’s Ringing Rocks planning team.
- Geo-technical, topographic and boundary surveys agreed to by the board during earlier meetings are under way.
Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 8 meeting):
- Pottsgrove’s Answer To Consolidation: Silence
- Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):
- As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
- Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
- District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
- District OKs Architect Negotiations
- Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
- Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
- Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
- Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
- Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
- No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
- Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
- Framing The Rocks Discussion
- Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
- District Invites Public For Study Results
- A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept
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