Earth-moving equipment erased all traces of the ball field on the west side of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, where geothermal wells will be dug.

POTTSTOWN PA – Workers began drilling this week, deep into the play fields on the west side of the Pottsgrove School District’s now-being-reconstructed Ringing Rocks Elementary School, to find heat.

Wells expected to supply geothermal energy that will both warm the school during winter months, as well as keep it cool during the summer, are being dug by three different drilling rigs that were assembled on the Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, site by Thursday (Nov. 11, 2010), according to district Clerk Of The Works Tom McGrady.

Just two drills would have been sufficient, McGrady indicated, as he reported to the Board of School Directors when it met Tuesday night (Nov. 9), “but with three the work will move very quickly,” he noted.

Meanwhile, inside what remains of the gutted and partially razed school building, other crews are installing piping to carry that geothermal comfort into every nook and cranny. Masons sealed up holes that once supported windows and doors. Electricians have been busy with initial re-wiring.

Concrete removed from portions of the school site were crushed and recycled to fill a trench.

On the outside, former walls have come tumbling down in places where the building will be expanded with new classrooms and other facilities. The playground once located on Ringing’s east side has been removed, and concrete from it and elsewhere on the grounds was crushed and recycled to fill an unnecessary pipe trench.

In the most recent video McGrady produced to show board members how work was progressing, the place looks like what it is: a construction zone. His show-and-tell has won rave reviews though. “This video is great,” board President Michael Neiffer said. “It really helps us visualize how the work is coming along.”

So far, it’s on schedule too. “The work is going fairly well at this point,” McGrady said, although – in response to a question from board Treasurer Fred Remelius – there have been a few surprises. “Nothing we couldn’t handle,” he added. “We’re on target, and everybody seems to be working together.”

Directors, who held their meeting inside the former St. Pius X High School on Keim Street, Pottstown – the temporary home for Ringing Rocks’ displaced students, and called “Saint Rocks” by its staff – later paid invoices related to the renovation project. It authorized contractors’ checks to be written for:

• E.R.Stuebner Inc., general contractor, in the amount of $292,705;
• MJF Electric Contracting Inc., electrical, $69,356;
• Vision Mechanical, plumbing, $33,255;
• Landmark Service Company LLC, heating and air conditioning, $104,694;
• TMI Commercial Inc., fire protection, $12,060; and
• Mattiola Services Inc., asbestos abatement, $1,830.

“I’m very pleased to see there were no change orders requested for any of these,” Neiffer said of the invoices. Change orders represent requests for alterations in work on which contractors initially bid, and usually incur additional costs.

The walls they came tumbling down (or at least some of them did).

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• Rigs Arrive At Ringing Site To Drill Deep For Geo-Heat
• Exterior Demolition To Begin At Ringing Rocks
• Digging’s Done, Now Real Work Starts At Ringing
• Ringing Rocks Ground-Breaking Set For Thursday
• After Month’s Work, Pius Deemed Set For Ringing Pupils
• Ringing Rocks Bids Accepted, At $1.5 Million Less
• Final Words On Ringing Rocks: Okey-Dokey
• Ringing Rocks Gets Final Plan OK
• Borrowing Authorized For Ringing Rocks Project
• Pottsgrove Signs Pius Lease For Ringing Students
• Pottsgrove Authorizes Pius Lease For Ringing Relocation
• Call Goes Out For Ringing Rocks Construction Bids
• Board OKs Ringing Rocks’ Preliminary Plans
• School Vestibule Design OK; No Decision On Rocks’ Relocation
• Ringing Rocks Plan Approval Held Until May
• Ringing Relocation Decision Deferred Again
• Township Legal Move Saves District Time, Money
• Economic Tales, Exec Sessions, And Long Night At Pottsgrove
• Geothermal Now ‘Locked’ Into Ringing Re-Build
• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• Less Is More In School Project, Planners Learn
• Bids Sought For Ringing Project Asbestos Removal
• Ringing Relocation Decision Possible In Two Weeks
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pottsgrove Student Enrollment: Up? Yes. Down? Yes Again
• Green Discussion At Ringing Results In Red Faces
• 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

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Nov. 9 meeting):

• Rigs Arrive At Ringing Site To Drill Deep For Geo-Heat
• Pottsgrove Band Heads To Hershey For Championships