State College Area School District is moving toward an update or replacement for the 53-year-old Park Forest Middle School, and on Monday the school board heard preliminary site options for the project.
Three potential options on district-owned land in the area of the Patton Township middle school have been identified.
One would involve renovations and additions to the existing building on School Drive. Another would see construction of a new school building on a parcel across Valley Vista Drive. The third option would construct a new school on a currently wooded area between Park Forest Elementary and the existing Park Forest Middle.
Randy Brown, finance and operations officer, said site analysis has only focused on properties owned by the district.
“If the board or an idea comes forward in the process for another property or another area, we would need some direction because we don’t own anything else that is a viable option,” Brown said.
Each site comes with advantages and challenges to be further explored, and cost estimates for the options have not yet been developed, Jeff Straub, of architectural consultant Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates (CRA), added.
“We’re not at the stage of putting budgetary numbers to each right now, but starting the discussion,” Straub said.
The school board appointed CRA in September to consult on a district-wide facilities master plan that will assess each of SCASD’s buildings, athletic facilities, playgrounds, transportation and security needs. Most notably, the plan will result in an updated or new Park Forest Middle School, which was constructed in 1971, last renovated in 1995 and in recent years eyed as the next major project for the district.
Renovations and Additions
Renovating and adding a 50,000-square-foot, two story addition to the current building would eliminate the need to build out site infrastructure, and “the most sustainable building is a building that’s existing,” Straub said.
But that existing building presents its own challenges.
“The question is could that existing building be utilized for an educational model when the building was built in the 1970s era,” Straub said. “That’s the challenge is reconfiguration of an existing building to accommodate the modern educational model.”
Mike Fisher, SCASD director of physical plant, said the current site also has significant drainage issues, and Straub noted that the sprawling, one-story building also leaves little acreage for contractors to work around students.
“Is it feasible to have that construction occurring and what is the break line of having too large an effect on education occurring during that same time period,” Straub said.
Valley Vista Drive Property
The new construction options share advantages and challenges.
“A new facility allows for flexibility so we can fully integrate the district’s vision for an educational program at the middle school level,” Straub said. “…What are SCASD’s directions and goals to move middle school secondary education in the future? Obviously a new facility can fully execute that so that’s a strong advantage to that.”
The district-owned property across Valley Vista Drive is an 18-acre parcel adjacent to what is known as the Haugh Tract and Circleville Park. It currently contains tennis courts and fields.
The property would allow for construction of a 200,000-square-foot, three story middle school building, along with play areas and fields, parking and a drop-off/pick-up area.
New infrastructure would be needed, but a multi-story building would reduce the facility’s footprint, Straub said. Construction would also take place remotely from students.
“Not only would we not be working around the students, but that improves the construction schedule for the contractors because they don’t have the provisions of working around the students,” Straub said. “They can reduce the construction schedule of the overall project.”
Property Adjacent to Park Forest Elementary and Middle
New construction on the wooded parcel along School Drive has similar advantages, and unique challenges.
While it would expand the current Park Forest campus into currently unused district land, it’s not yet certain if a school design will work on the site.
“This is a heavily wooded location. It’s a very sloped site,” Straub said. “Removing all of the wooded location … and then how do we incorporate a building on a sloped site? It is achievable but it is a potential challenge.”
Another issue is School Drive, which was constructed by the district but now appears to have shared ownership with the township, Straub noted. The road divides the Park Forest campus and may need to be relocated or reconfigured for a new school on the wooded parcel.
Community input will be a part of planning for the middle school, and Fisher said a plan for community engagement will be brought forward in the coming weeks.
A preliminary timeline projected construction on a Park Forest Middle replacement could begin in late 2025 and be completed in the spring of 2028.
Mount Nittany Elementary Plans Moving Forward
The board also on Monday approved 30% plans for renovations and additions to Mount Nittany Elementary School.
Mount Nittany is the only of the district’s eight elementary schools identified as having immediate capacity concerns that need to be addressed, based on the analysis of enrollment trends and projections over 10 years conducted by CRA, with additional projections provided by school enrollment analytics firm DecisionInsite.
This school year marked the third in a row that the 450-student-capacity Mount Nittany Elementary’s 18 classrooms were at full use and two fifth-grade classrooms needed to be located in the nearby Panorama Village Administrative Center.
The project, which is also being designed by CRA, will add a two-story wing to the building. In addition to six classrooms on the first floor and six on the second, the initial floor plans include a large group instruction room, special education rooms and a cafeteria. In its current design, the addition will have 33,700 square feet of space on the first floor and 975 square feet on the second floor.
Plans also include bus drop-off loop and parking lot accessible from the existing parking area shared with Mount Nittany Middle School, along with a new entrance and playing fields.
CRA next will develop the 60 percent designs, with input from faculty and staff, for an anticipated vote by the board in May. A project budget is also expected to be presented in the coming weeks.
Construction is expected to start in November and last 26 months.
