$55K Awarded To Design New Walkway, Fix Leak At Ridge High School

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A number of projects at Ridge High School are moving forward after the Board of Education awarded contracts to an architect to address a new walkway and fix a leak.

Additionally, the Board accepted almost $40,000 in donations to install a new locker room floor and upgrade a faculty room.

During the Monday night meeting, the Bernards Board of Education unanimously approved a contract in an amount not to exceed $38,830 to Spiezle Architectural Group of Hamilton to design and create a handicap-accessible route to the stadium and bleacher area at Ridge High School.

"The existing pathway leaves a lot to be desired for those of you that have walked that route. So we are going to work on that with our architect to get some plans to consider going to bid for," said Superintendent Nick Markarian at the meeting.

The Board also awarded an amount not to exceed $17,700 to Spiezle Architectural Group to design a solution for the Media Center Parapet wall at Ridge High School.

"There is a rising wall that has a leak in it on the outside," said Markarian. "That wall needs some architectural design in order to repair it properly and maintain an appropriate esthetic look."

Markarian also mentioned the Board is looking to work with an architect on designing plans to upgrade a few of the kitchen facilities in the district. However, a contract was not awarded for that work yet.

The Board also accepted a number of donations at the meeting to help with more upgrades at the high school.

The Oak Street School PTO donated $12,470 for faculty room upgrades and a total of $25,000 was donated by a variety of booster organizations to install new flooring in the Ridge High School Football/Track locker room.

The donations were given by:

• The Touchdown Club ($5,000)
• The Ridge Booster Club ($8,000)
• Ridge Runners ($5,000)
• Ridge Touchdown Club/Ridge Runners combined ($7,000)

The new floor would be a green Tarkett Sports Indoor-DropZone Impact in 24x24 straight-edge floor tiles.

"The idea is to install a floor that is a little more user-friendly and not slippery when wet," said Markarian.

The donations will help to defray the cost of the floor with the Board of Education being responsible for the balance.

Markarian estimated the total cost of the project to be between $43,000 and $44,000 and be installed sometime between March 1, 2023, and August 1, 2023.

"Those are all very generous donations from the PTO at Oak Street and all those organizations at Ridge. So we thank all of them," said Board President Robin McKeon.

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