Categorized | Religion

In The Ringing Rocks Rebuild, Whither Pius?

Posted on 28 January 2010. Tags: , , , ,

POTTSTOWN PA – Ever since late 2008, when it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Pottsgrove School District‘s Ringing Rocks Elementary School would be expanded and improved, people – school board members, taxpayers, parents – have posed the question, “What about Pius?”

The front of St. Pius X High School on North Keim Street in Pottstown.

It was known then that Pope John Paul II High School, the replacement facility for the merger of St. Pius X High School, 844 N. Keim St., Pottstown PA, and Kennedy-Kenrick High School in Norristown PA would likely be finished being built in nearby Royersford at about the same time decisions on Ringing’s future were being made.

The Pius building would be vacant, public musings went. “Why not renovate it” instead of Ringing, and take advantage of a bigger building with a large field behind it?, some asked. “It’s got to be cheaper than new construction,” was an often whispered rejoinder.

When it was clear the district Board of School Directors preferred to improve Ringing rather than relocate it, the quiet questions shifted to “Can we rent Pius to house our students while Ringing gets made over?” The answer, discussed at length Tuesday (Jan. 26, 2010) by directors during the board’s second January meeting, is “not unless a miracle occurs” to change its rental price.

As it turns out, maybe not even then.

As its cornerstone shows, Pius was first built in 1954.

District Business Administrator David Nester has been negotiating with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over renting Pius during the two years needed to complete work at Ringing. He may have fared well: the Archdiocese dropped its asking price – first proposed at $488,000 per year or $8 per square foot for the 61,000-square-foot building – by 25 percent, to $366,000 annually or $6 per square foot, Nester reported.

Problem is, he added, the figure doesn’t include the cost of utilities. When they get factored in, costs rise by another $150,000. The resulting $900,000 two-year rental total is about equal to the estimated cost of keeping students at Ringing while construction work gets phased in around them, Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis said.

That’s not an option, as far as director and board Vice Present Scott Fulmer is concerned. “I don’t want to see kids at Ringing Rocks during the construction,” he said Tuesday. “To have them wandering around the construction site could be a nightmare.” His colleagues agreed.

Directors also aren’t sure temporarily housing students at Pius was as good an idea as it first appeared. The facility was built in the mid-’50s, director April Kontostathis noted, and its future maintenace and repair needs remain unknown. “I worry we may have to invest more in Pius to make it what we need it to be,” she said.

By the end of Tuesday’s meeting, the board opted for transferring Ringing Rocks students to a combination of modular classrooms and interior re-uses at Pottsgrove Middle School. Its informal decision raises a new community question, yet to be answered by the Archdiocese: what happens to the Pius building once it’s emptied?

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

Related (to the Pottsgrove School Board meeting of Jan. 26):

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