Princeton Elementary Students Will Have Fresh Schools for Fall

Candace Braun

Next September, students attending Princeton's elementary schools will enter newly renovated buildings, without dirt, trucks, or construction workers cluttering up their hallways and school yard. Construction and renovation on all four elementary schools should be complete by this summer, Michael Mostoller, facilities chairman, announced at the March 30 School Board meeting.

The $81.3 million construction project on five of the six schools in the Princeton Regional School District has been ongoing for almost a year and a half. Construction fell behind by a few months during asbestos treatment at the elementary schools last summer, while extra construction was required at the middle school because of basement flooding, and during the mid-winter, installation of ventilation systems in all four elementary schools to help with air quality in the classrooms.

But the work is drawing to a close. Construction on Littlebrook and Riverside Elementary schools should be complete by the end of May, said Mr. Mostoller. Renovations, including the cafetorium at Littlebrook and administrative offices at Riverside, are expected to be complete by the end of July.

All work on Community Park and Johnson Park Elementary Schools should be finished by the end of summer, said the facilities chairman.

John Witherspoon Middle School still has another year of dust and debris to deal with, as renovations on the school won't be complete until one year from now, said Mr. Mostoller. Renovations include updating the art, technology, and music wings, along with the small gym,

The school's new gymnasium and new academic wing should be finished by June, said Mr. Mostoller. The new wing will include science demonstration rooms and a laboratory.

High School Bids

Construction at Princeton High School finally got underway in recent months, but is moving forward more slowly. After sending out the construction project to bid three times, the school awarded a bid to Ernest Bock & Sons last October. However now the district is facing similar problems with its bids for temporary classrooms.

The second round of bids for four temporary classrooms intended to be built in the high school parking lot were rejected for a second time by Board members at their March 30 meeting.

All bids that came in exceeded the pre-bid construction cost estimate. A lack of funds will not permit the Board to approve any bids that are above the estimated cost of $377,000.

The Board voted on its first set of bids at a March 9 meeting. However the one bidder who came in under budget, Vanguard Modular Building Systems in Bridgewater, was unable to come through with the proper paperwork, thus the bid had to be rejected. The contractor had brought a bid to the table of $244,000, which was $134,000 lower than the next closest bid.

Currently 12 trailers sit on the high school site. If built, the four additional trailers would be placed on the Houghton Street side of the building.

The Board must now go back and rework its plans for the temporary classroom trailers before it can send them out to bid again.

As of December, high school construction was expected to be completed by December 2004, with renovation completed by October 2005.