ALTOONA, Pa. (WJAC) -- At its meeting on Monday night, The Altoona Area School Board gave a renovation project, that has been about two years in the making, a green light.
The $88 million project will renovate the A Building and build a new B Building where the intramural field is now, according to the district's superintendent Dr. Charles Prijatelj.
The board voted 5-4 Monday to accept a bid from J.C. Orr & Son Inc. for the construction.
Some board members, including Ed Kreuz, have been in solid opposition.
Kreuz's Facebook page includes posts saying, "Altoona Area School District taxpayers should have a choice."
The page also includes a tweet from Kreuz's daughter, saying in part, "Although the new school was passed, he never gave up. He spent hours researching and fighting only for the benefit of others."
The project has received some level of pushback from residents since the district announced a portion of the budget would require an increase in property taxes.
For the average property valued at $150,000, property owners will pay about $70 more over the course of a year. Broken down further, that's about $5 per month.
Several residents have addressed the school board at meetings, saying they can't afford the increase, and some have claimed they'll lose their homes because of it.
"I heard from a lot of seniors in the room tonight that it will be a burden on them financially," resident Janeen Nebelski said at the meeting.
"You can't build bigger when you don't have the money. I drive a TrailBlazer and I'd like a brand-new vehicle. My bank says no, you know?" resident Autumn Temple said.
Residents have also criticized the board for spending such a large amount of money, claiming the project was simply for aesthetics.
Prijatelj has said that the project is instead to solve serious problems within the district. He said that the classrooms are overcrowded and surpass state maximums for student head counts. The B Building is also nearly a century old, and Prijatelj said the aging building is not sustainable.
J.C. Orr Inc. President, Joseph Orr III said the plan for the new buildings is fairly standard.
Some residents have questioned why the B Building needs to be new and why the district can't just renovate to enlarge the classrooms within the existing structure.
Orr said that with such an old building, that would jeopardize its structural integrity, and constructing a new building is the most practical and cheapest option.
"It makes no sense to put a lot of money in infrastructure within the building when the structure itself is not up-to-date or sound," Orr said.
Temple said that she was disappointed that the project was not available to local companies who might be able and willing to complete it for a lower cost.
Orr said his company, located down the street from the high school, placed a bid and is enthusiastic about being a part of a local project.
"We're very excited about having a project so close to home," he said.
He also said that the company, which has been in the Altoona area since the 1800s, will be using local hands.
"There are workers and craftsman from all over Blair County, Cambria County, Centre County and within a 100-mile radius of here," Orr said.
The new and newly renovated buildings are expected to be ready by 2020. Construction will begin after the students and staff leave for summer break.
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