An Update on Glenside Elementary's New Digs

A major construction project that finishes on time and within budget tends to be good news.  So Ray Bavi, director of support services for Cheltenham Township Schools, said he is pleased and proud about the new Glenside Elementary School building. 

Not that he’ll have time to rest on this achievement, as his next major construction project has already begun its design phase.

Glenside Elementary School will be moving into its new home during June, and then, as soon as its temporary quarters at the Elkins Park Middle School campus have been cleaned out, the boxes from Cheltenham Elementary School will be moving in.

Both elementary schools were slated for demolition because the costs of repairs and renovations could not be justified when compared with new construction, said Bavi.

Building audits of these 1950s-era structures revealed, among many problems, issues with roofs, boilers, electric components, asbestos and PCBs. 

The old Glenside building was leveled by May 2010. Salvaged were historic Mercer tiles and stained glass, which now adorn the entryway of the new school.  During the process, some effort was made to recycle additional building materials, such as concrete, wood and soil. Bavi explained that this effort not only helped prevent unnecessary waste, but that it also cut costs.

In an era of energy sensitivity and environmental imperatives, the new Glenside Elementary meets the standards for LEED Silver rating, even though the school did not apply for certification, according to Bavi. 

LEED is a nationally-recognized rating system for “green” and sustainable building.  The levels are certified, silver, gold and platinum.  Bavi said that he believes the additional expense of submitting to LEED review would have been as much as $260,000 and that the budget couldn’t justify that process.

However, he enumerated some of the “green” aspects of the new construction.  The roofing system is from a TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) white rubber material to reflect the sun. For heating and cooling, the district couldn’t afford the most efficient geothermal option, but went with a strong alternative (“96 percent efficient”):  a water source heat pump system, according to Bavi. 

Storm water management includes a bioretention basin, special piping to prevent run off, and pervious pavement.  

To conserve tap water, lavatories are equipped with automatic water faucets and flush toilets, and the amount of water in the tank is adjustable, Bavi said.

(Higher sustainability ratings call for utilizing rain water or a similar secondary water source for toilet flushing, rather than tap water, but the initial outlay is more expensive.) 

Windows can be opened in the new school. A “daylighting system” ensures a window wall for all classrooms, and hallways, and most other spaces, are lit by windows.  Electric lights have sensors. Both lights and temperature are linked to computers in the central office.

In order to achieve the desired 70,000 square feet needed for programming, and to preserve outdoor play areas and the sledding hills that are important to the community, the new Glenside Elementary is a two-story building, Bavi said.

The district worked with Gilbert Architects—which has also led school facilities projects in Upper Dublin, Radnor, Council Rock, Lower Moreland and Plymouth-Whitemarsh school districts.

The project had been estimated at $18 million and came in at $14 million, according to Bavi.

Gilbert Architects was also selected to work on the Cheltenham Elementary building.

Bavi said he expects that aspects of the Cheltenham project will be more complex than Glenside, due in part to that school’s location on two state roads.  PennDOT involvement requires traffic studies for school bus entrance and exit, and additional layers of approvals, he said.

There is also uncertainty involving a 10,000-gallon oil tank buried about 30 feet underground.  The tank may be leaking, “but we don’t know what we’ll find,” he said. 

Such unknowns can add delays.

The current plan is for Cheltenham Elementary School to relocate to the temporary classrooms at Elkins Park Middle School during the coming summer.  Bavi said he hopes a design will be approved by the end of December, adding that demolition of the old school will take place around February 2012.  He estimates the project will take about 16 months, from and including demolition.

An administration presentation to the school board’s facilities committee on April 5 raised a number of issues about other district buildings and about grade configurations, according to board president Tina Viletto.  (See related article: "Cheltenham School Board Looks at Consolidation, Reconfiguration.")

Viletto put the discussion in the context of budgetary issues, in which physical plant “efficiencies” and viability of shutting down buildings—particularly Wyncote Elementary and the administration building—would be explored.

“It was a first look at a possible option,” Viletto said. “We won’t do anything without total transparency, input and feedback.”