District Officials Announce Construction Completion Dates

Candace Braun

All new construction at Princeton High School is now scheduled to be completed by the beginning of January 2006, according to members of the Princeton Regional Board of Education who met recently with the Board's construction and contracting management firm.

The high school's new gymnasium is scheduled for completion by November 28, followed by the science classrooms on December 20, and the new art wing and auditorium on January 3, 2006. Completion dates for renovations on existing wings are still tentative, and will be announced at the Board's facilities meeting in May, said Gary Weisman, director of plant/operations for the district.

The original completion date for all construction and renovations at PHS was September 2005, and the district is now hoping to have all the work completed by December 2006. Currently 38 percent of the work at the high school is complete, said Board President Anne Burns on Monday.

Contractors of the construction management firm, Ernest Bock & Sons of Philadelphia, have been slow to complete the project for various reasons, including some delays in state approvals. The district recently hired a management consultant, Trauner Consulting Services of Philadelphia, to assist in devising a new work schedule to get the contractors back on track.

The recent meeting with the construction firm was a definite step in the right direction, said Superintendent Judith Wilson.

"We've seen a great amount of progress over the last month," she said. "I think we have real targets and have a new level of commitment among all parties."

Meanwhile, 95 percent of the work at John Witherspoon Middle School has been completed. The remainder includes some minor work on the insides of the building, as well as renovations on some of the wings. The school is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

The elementary schools are still only 98 percent complete, even though most of the work was completed by the start of school last September. District officials have said that there is still a small list of items that must be completed at the schools.

The $82.3 million construction and renovation project in the district is approximately $150,000 over budget, or 1 percent above what the district had anticipated to spend, said Michael Mostoller, chairman of the facilities committee.