FORD CITY -- Getting some new windows at Elderton High School might not be as expensive as originally projected.
According to Rick Mulroy, director of facilities for Armstrong School District, the project could cost as little as $150,000 if the board only replaced windows in the most vital sections of the school.
"I feel very comfortable with that number," Mulroy told the Armstrong School Board at its meeting Monday night.
Mulroy said if the board chose to replace windows only on the front of the school, which generally bears the brunt of the winter wind, the project would cost considerably less than the $500,000 to replace all of the windows at the school.
The windows on the front side of the building must be replaced, Mulroy said, because many of those rooms are science rooms, requiring ventilation.
Other faulty windows could be covered with storm windows, he said.
Trisha Szalankiewicz, a student representative to the board from Elderton, said temperatures in the rooms fluctuate wildly. One day students might wear coats in the classroom, the next day it can be unbearably hot, she said.
"From day to day it changes," Szalankiewicz said.
The board had balked at spending half a million dollars to replace windows at a building it may ultimately decide to close, but Mulroy said last night that even if the board made the decision to close Elderton, it would be nearly three years before students would be relocated.
Since that decision hasn't been made, the wait could be longer, and Mulroy said the project should be done as soon as possible.
"My recommendation, based on that, would be to replace those windows," he said.
Board President Terry Rupp said the measure was a "stopgap" solution, but could be viable.
Mulroy said the decision whether to replace would have to come soon if the district wanted to have them installed by the start of next school year.
"It's a tight timeline," he said.
The board will likely vote on the issue at its meeting at April 19.
