Renovations delay school start

A $3 million renovation project in both the high school and elementary buildings will delay the first day in Avella Area School District to Sept. 3.
Work has been completed on new elementary school boilers and high school locker rooms, but Superintendent Cyril Walther said it didn’t appear he could secure a valid occupancy permit by Monday, when classes originally were schedule to begin.
“What we were promised hasn’t been delivered on time. The restrooms aren’t ready to go. The general contractor, Liokareas Construction, said they would have things finished over the weekend, but when I walk through the halls, there’s still the work of cleaning the hallways and sanitizing the building. I’m not happy about it, but I don’t want to take any chances,” Walther said.
There also is the issue of the elementary school kitchen, which won’t be finished until next Friday at the earliest.
“What we’ll be doing is cooking food at the high school kitchen, then bringing it over and serving it hot in warming stations and set up service lines that way,” Walther said.
The work, which started at the beginning of summer, is geared toward extending the service life of the district’s buildings by at least 25 years, Walther said.