POTTSTOWN PA – Coventry Christian Schools broke ground last week (Oct. 30, 2009) for an 8,000-square-foot events center on its Lower Pottsgrove campus, at 699 N. Pleasant View Rd., Pottstown PA, the plans for which were approved years earlier by the township.
Coventry Christian's North Pleasant View campus.
School officials report that donations from Coventry’s families and alumni, local business partners and others jump-started the project by raising more than $240,000 over a five-month period earlier this year. Construction will be handled by SMJ Construction Services Inc. of Douglassville PA, and is expected to be completed next spring.
Expansion is being undertaken now to meet the needs of Coventry’s growing secondary school program, which covers grades 5-12. Coventry, founded in 1984, purchased the North Pleasant View building – the former Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School – in 2003 from the Pottsgrove School District.
Only a year later, Lower Pottsgrove’s Board of Commissioners approved the school’s plan to expand its gym and create the events center. That plan, however, was put on hold while Coventry and the township discussed the potential for an easement along the campus north property line to allow greater access to Gerald Richards Park, located behind the school to the west.
The township this year determined the easement was no longer needed, and Coventry moved ahead to build the long-delayed project. In September (2009) it asked for, and received, approval from the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission to begin grading a 9,600 portion of its property to accommodate the new building and adjacent parking. A water line also will be installed.
Coventry turned the ground-breaking into what the Oct. 26 edition of its weekly newsletter described as a “momentous occasion.” On hand for the event were its Spirit Squad, chorus, school officials, and local dignitaries, as well as students, parents, and partners.
In Coventry-related news, the school also recently installed an internally-lit electronic messaging sign that was approved during August (2009) by the township Zoning Hearing Board. The sign is one of the first of its kind to be erected in areas outside those specified by Lower Pottsgrove’s zoning code.
Related:
- Coventry Christian OK To Grade For Gym Expansion
- Zoners OK Private School’s Messaging Sign
- Zoning Board Postpones Coventry Sign Action
- Academy Sign Subject of Zoning Hearing
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