Spectacular views await Ringgold middle-schoolers
Massaro project manager Nancy Gorgas discusses the drainage of rainwater under the plans for the new middle school.
The $34 million Ringgold Middle School construction project, which began in April 2016, remains on schedule.
A worker loads concrete for construction of the new Ringgold Middle School. Students will be able to look out large windows to see the hilly views.
A construction vehicle loads supplies from what will be the front of the new middle school.
A construction crew works on what will be the gym at the new Ringgold Middle School. The school is scheduled to be completed Aug. 4.
The classroom windows offer beautiful vistas at the new Ringgold Middle School, which is under construction in Carroll Township.
Many of the rooms have windows facing an old-growth evergreen forest, while others overlook an open courtyard where science students will experiment with plants.
“The classrooms have spectacular views,” said project manager Nancy L. Gorgas while she led a group on a tour Friday of the $34 million school next to Ringgold High School along Route 136.
Construction began in April on the 141,962-square-foot, two-story building after the district debated the project over decades.
It will feature a media center and library with three walls of windows on the second floor above the entrance.
“It’s really going to be a beautiful space,” said Gorgas, who works for Massaro Construction Management Services of Pittsburgh.
The building is constructed mostly with masonry block, and it also will include brick and decorative tile elements. It will have at least 50 classrooms, a full kitchen, a 10,295-square-foot gymnasium and a 600-seat auditorium. The gym is large enough to seat a full assembly of students in grades five though eight.
“The real push is getting us under roof,” said Gorgas, adding that roofers will begin working at the site next week.
“Our goal is to keep this project moving.”
The project is within budget and on schedule for an Aug. 4 completion, she said.
The building will open to students at the beginning of the 2017-18 term, Ringgold Superintendent Karen Polkabla said.
“This is the public’s building,” said Ringgold School Board member Maureen Ott, who organized the tour.
It will replace the existing middle school in Finleyville, a 50-year-old building that has shifted and cracked over many years because it was built on soil containing pyrite, a mineral that swells when it gets wet.
Gorgas said construction workers went to great lengths to ensure the new school is situated on a solid foundation.
Meanwhile, the school board Wednesday authorized the issuance of a $14.1 million bond through Fidelity to help finance the construction project. Randy Skrinjorich, the district’s director of operations and financial services, said Ringgold will pay a 3.48 interest rate on the financing. He said the district also received notification from the state Department of Education that Ringgold will begin to receive state reimbursements for the new middle school.