As Hempfield Area High School’s graduating seniors walk across the field at Spartan Stadium on Friday, signs of the high school’s long-awaited renovation already will have cropped up.
The district is set to break ground on the project Monday, with construction crews erecting fences to block off work zones, Superintendent Mark Holtzman said. Trailers for construction workers to use during the renovation already have been hauled into the high school parking lot, he said.
In March, the school board approved bids for the $119 million project, which came in about $30 million lower than an estimate pitched about 2½ years ago. The three-part project is expected to be completed by June 2029, with each phase taking about a year.
The first phase of work includes construction of a two-story addition — between 70,000 and 80,000 square feet — as well as updates to the swimming pool, auditorium, high school and field house roofs.
The second phase will address classrooms, the cafeteria and the library. The final phase will expand the field house lobby, rework the parking lot and renovate the inside of the field house and the back section of the high school.
Superintendent: ‘Won’t be much of a disruption’ during summer
The main entrance to the high school will be blocked off by the week of June 8, the second week of the district’s summer break, Holtzman said. An alternative entrance behind the school along Spartan Lane will be the only access point to the building during the summer.
Excavation for work related to the addition, the pool and several classrooms could begin in July, he said.
“There really won’t be much of a disruption other than a little bit of dust and maybe some noise,” Holtzman said. “We’re not anticipating much until we get ready to start school next year and prepare the campus for buses and families and student drivers.”
Students will not have to attend classes in temporary trailers during the renovation, Holtzman told TribLive in March.
The district decided to move its freshmen to the former Harrold Middle School building, leaving between 25% and 35% of the high school’s classrooms vacant since the start of the 2023-24 academic year. This vacancy will allow the district to rotate classes internally as construction crews move through different wings of the 600,000-square-foot structure built in 1956.
More on the project
• How Hempfield Area’s $119M high school renovation will impact students
• Hempfield Area School Board approves bids for long-awaited renovation at $119 million
• Hempfield high school renovation bids come in about $30 million lower than projected
• Hempfield Area School Board reopens bidding for $150M high school project
• Hempfield Area drafts 3D designs for high school renovation
• Hempfield reviews visions for high school renovation project after construction stalled last year
• Hempfield high school project plan is millions of dollars over budget, must be revised
• Hempfield high school project cost rises to $132 million
• Hempfield high school renovation project receives $128 million budget approval
• Hempfield moves forward with borrowing plan for school construction
• Hempfield School Board decides to tear down existing high school to its bare bones, building up from there
• Hempfield Area OKs study for renovating or rebuilding high school
• Hempfield school leaders take first steps toward feasibility study to rebuild or renovate high school
‘Excited about the future of Hempfield’
The high school renovation has been a topic of discussion among district officials, parents and students for more than five years.
A feasibility study was approved in December 2020 and advanced in April 2021 when the school board hired Minnesota-based SitelogIQ to complete the nine-month assessment for $22,500.
The school board decided in March 2022 to gut and renovate the building, initiating a borrowing plan the following month to pay for the project. The project was initially assigned a $128 million budget in January 2023, which climbed to $132 million that June.
The project was put on pause in August 2023 when bids for the first phase came in higher than expected. The district brought the project back on track in 2024, laying out revised visions for the renovation that October.
The district later hired architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates to lead the project alongside SitelogIQ and owner’s representative McKinley Architecture and Engineering.
The board advanced schematic designs in May 2024, and district officials drafted 3D designs three months later.
Holtzman said the district is fortunate to have the project in good standing ahead of the groundbreaking.
“Hopefully, it is executed and done as well as things are going now with the board’s support and help in this whole process,” he said. “We’ve really made some super, super progress in a short period of time. I think families should be excited about the future of Hempfield.”