After 101 years, a Greater Latrobe school building on Ligonier Street might end its service to generations of students.
District administrators recommended construction of a school at a cost of $28.7 million to the school board this week to replace the aging Latrobe Elementary School, portions of which were built as the first Latrobe High School in 1914.
“It is our job as the school board to look out, not two years or even five years, but 15 and 20 years, and what's going to happen, as the stewards of that,” said school board President Rhonda Laughlin.
About 30 people listened to an hour-long presentation reviewing a Comprehensive Facility Assessment Report, completed by Hank Tkacik of North Huntingdon-based Axis Architecture.
Superintendent Judith Swigart said the school board started discussing the elementary building when the roof needed repairs about a year and a half ago and spent $50,000 on “significant damage” last summer.
“That repair prompted the district to look at Latrobe Elementary School, and it's always been a question,” she said.
The school, which houses 808 students from kindergarten through sixth grade, had major additions in 1938 and 1966. The last major renovation was completed in 1993.
Tkacik reviewed code and handicapped-accessible repairs, like the need for higher stairwell railings, better access to the music room, and removal of asbestos and lead paint.
Other changes would make the building more efficient and safer, like a more secure main entrance and new heating and air conditioning, he said.
If the roof were removed for replacement, damage would be found throughout the wooden beams, Tkacik said.
“When the roof is replaced, depending on the severity of it ... you may end up finding that you do need to replace the entire wooden structure with a steel structure,” he said.
Renovations could cost slightly more than $23.1 million while construction of a building is estimated at just under $28.8 million, Tkacik said.
The school board is considering relocating the school to the Old Athletic Field, which is owned by the city of Latrobe and located across the street from the district's administration building on Lincoln Avenue.
During public comment, Laughlin told a parent that two other sites considered for a building “aren't feasible.”
Latrobe Area Historical Society President Mary Lou Townsend asked what would happen to the old building. Laughlin said, “That's also in discussion.”
Mike Porembka, director of teaching and learning, said the layout of the four-story school makes it difficult for teachers to collaborate and students lose instructional time walking.
The building doesn't accommodate bus and car traffic, so children arrive and are dismissed onto city streets with the help of police and fire police every day, he said.
A two-story school building would include a playground, driveways for cars and a parking lane for buses circling the building. Common areas such as the library and cafeteria would be clustered with wings of classrooms around them, Tkacik said.
Financing would come from bonds that would add to the $25 million the district already owes, said business administrator Dan Watson.
Each year, the board budgets $4.8 million for debt service and could avoid increasing that number by extending it 12 years and using all or a portion of $3.2 million in capital reserves, a portion of the fund balance, capitalized interest or a combination of those three, Watson said.
The debt service payment could be kept at the same annual amount, he said.
“We have a very small amount of debt that allows us to pay back a $20 to $30 million debt over 12 years.”
Board member Michael Zorch said the $5.7 million difference between renovating and building is “chicken scratch.”
“If anybody walks through that building and sees what it looks like, you'd know that was the truth,” Zorch said. “We're not going to increase the taxpayers' load. ... In the long run, it's going to be better for the kids, I think, if you build a new one.”
Stacey Federoff is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-6660 or sfederoff@tribweb.com.
