POTTSTOWN PA – Should, or can, Ringing Rocks Elementary School afford to be “green?” That question, in essence, caused a few faces to turn red during Tuesday night’s (Feb. 23, 2010) meeting of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors.
An architectural rendering of the proposed front entrance to the renovated Ringing Rocks Elementary School, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA.
Plans for the renovation and expansion of Ringing Rocks, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, call for using a broad list of products and features that promote environmental sustainability. Chief among them is a proposal to install a geothermal heating and cooling system that would extend, in part, dozens of feet underground across a playing field at the school’s west end.
School geothermal systems are not new; several are in place across Pennsylvania, and documented studies show they can reduce the annual cost of heating and cooling a building. But they can be expensive, too, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of construction.
Just how much would a geothermal system would cost at Ringing Rocks? That question was left unanswered Tuesday by district architects, whose representative extolled its virtues at length but – when questioned by one resident – was embarrassed to report he didn’t immediately have figures available.
The exchange arose as almost 150 people who attended the board meeting pleaded for directors to re-examine the possibility of leasing St. Pius X High School in Pottstown as a temporary home for Ringing Rocks students during its re-construction. Many advocate a move to Pius, in what Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis calls Ringing Rocks’ “transitional phase,” over a plan to house students in modular facilities at Pottsgrove Middle School.
District administrators are negotiating with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which owns the soon-to-be-vacated Pius building, but so far have balked at the proposed lease cost as it compares to the price of using modulars.
At one point, the discussion prompted Ringing Rocks parent Rick Rabinowitz to wonder aloud if savings could be found elsewhere to make the Pius option more financially appealing. “Possibly we could do without the geothermal,” he said. Turning toward Rod Frey, project manager for Gilbert Architects Inc. of Lancaster PA, Rabinowitz asked, “How much does geothermal cost?”
Frey earlier in the meeting had spent 10 minutes covering a long list of sustainability features, including the geothermal plant, that were foreseen for use at Ringing Rocks.
There was a palpable silence for a second or two. Then Frey replied, “I don’t have that with me right now, but I certainly can get back to you on it.” Pressed for a second detail on the system, Frey lacked it too. Some audience members were seen shaking their heads.
Later, after the meeting adjourned, one director was overheard complaining to the architect’s three-member team about its seeming lack of preparation.
Rabinowitz isn’t the only one who has raised flags over the geothermal system. Several directors themselves, as early as a year ago, expressed concerns about its cost, future maintenance, and reliability. Whether geothermal remains in the Ringing Rocks design would be determined in coming months, as the board begins bidding the project.
Rendering by Gilbert Architects for the Pottsgrove School District
Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):
- Pottsgrove, Archdiocese Still Discussing Pius Lease
- Ringing Rocks Relocation Discussion Set For Tonight
- In The Ringing Rebuild, Whither Pius?
- Ringing Rocks Relocation Plan: Modulars At MS
- Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
- Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
- District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
- Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
- As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
- Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
- District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
- District OKs Architect Negotiations
- Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
- Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
- Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
- Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
- Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
- No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
- Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
- Framing The Rocks Discussion
- Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
- District Invites Public For Study Results
- A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept
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