Phoenixville Middle School Construction About a Month Behind

Though the initial schedule called for Phoenixville Area Middle School to be complete by June 1, that timeline has moved back a bit.

The classrooms, cafeteria and library will be “substantially completed” by June 23 and the rest of the building should be ready by June 29, according to Stan Johnson, executive director of operations. Still, the building should be ready for the first day of the 2012-2013 school year, Johnson said at Thursday's school board workshop meeting.

That gives the district a six- to seven-week window to have everything moved into the new PAMS before the school year begins. Johnson said it will be a busy time as all the new technology also has to be installed, and items will have to be moved over from the current middle school as well. However, he said he believes the move can be made within the timeframe. 

“We believe that seven weeks is a good size window for us to work in the summer,” Johnson said.

Board Member Ken Butera asked Johnson if, in a worst case scenario the building’s gym and auditorium aren’t complete, the district could still get a use and occupancy permit.

“We’d have to check with the borough,” Johnson said. “My focus is on getting the whole building done by July 1.”

Use and occupancy is dependent on having certain things done, like having the elevators operational. Johnson said the elevators are near the area that would be completed last, so he said the building would likely have to be completely done to get a use and occupancy permit.

“We need to get the whole building completed. I can’t settle or accept anything less than that,” Johnson said.

Contractors were told to focus on the classroom areas and the offices, cafeteria and library of the new building, Johnson said. The gymnasium area has been used for staging and storage of materials, which in a way, helped speed up the process because the materials were on-site and contractors didn’t have to wait on those. However, it limited the amount of work that could be done on the gymnasium itself throughout the construction process.

Board Treasurer Josh Gould said the contractor should have planned the staging area in a better way.

“Using the gymnasium as a staging area shouldn’t drive a delay,” Gould said. “These are experienced contractors and they should have planned for their staging areas.”

During the building and grounds committee report, Board Member David Ziev said the district may look into a proposal for a contractor to help coordinate and organize the move to the new middle school. Ziev said that would likely cost approximately $18,000.

“As we continue to go through that, at some point we will bring that to the board for approval,” Ziev said.

The new PAMS will have almost all new classroom furniture, Johnson said, and other furniture will be moved from other areas.

“That which still has life in it will be moved,” Johnson said.

Text books, library books, sets from the theater and many other things will have to be transferred from the existing school to the new building, Johnson said. For the classroom furniture and other items that are not going to be used at the new middle school, Johnson said a yard sale will be held the third or last week of June for other schools or taxpayers to purchase desks and other goods.

“It’s mandated by law. We have to offer it to the taxpayers if they want to purchase it,” Johnson said.

Finally, Ziev reported on the change orders with the PAMS project to date. So far, the district has used up approximately $604,000, or 45 percent of its contingency budget, due to site changes as well as owner changes.

“We’re tracking quite well considering how far we are through the project,” Ziev said.