Population growth could cause more Mars renovations
ADAMS TWP — The population boom that led to a Mars Area Elementary School renovation could also push the district to pursue additional projects, spending more money to accommodate more students.
Mars’ school board received a presentation Tuesday, March 10, showing what future projects in coming years could look like. It included concrete options on renovating Mars Area Centennial School.
It also included discussing options to renovate, or even replace, the football stadium.
The district may move quickly. A request for proposals for the project could be put out in the next month.
“By the end of March, we’re going to have this thing, I think, solidified to the point where we’ll be able to publish an RFP (request for proposal). Whether you go look for a new architect or stay the course with who you have, we’ll have that project description, all the programming, size requirements, the budget and the schedule incorporated into the RFP, so when you go to execute, you have all those things pinned down,” Jon Thomas, of Thomas & Williamson Program Management, said.
When the district did a demographics study in 2024, it showed population growth was not an anomaly, but a trend the district would have to address in coming years. So far, the district is renovating the elementary school, which broke ground in December.
Thomas said during the meeting a study that was done in 2022 and presented in spring 2023 focused on the elementary school. There were some other areas the board at the time asked Thomas & Williamson to look at, he said, such as potential improvement of athletic facilities and other district buildings.
Total costs are unknown. However, projected costs for fixing the current football stadium could reach $17 million, according to the presentation posted to the district’s website.
“Somebody needs to start working on what it is that we need, so we can start projecting and planning, this is like building a brand-new school. It’s going to be expensive,” board member Jennifer DiCuccio said during the meeting.
Thomas, the district’s project manager, said Tuesday a potential Centennial School renovation, if bidding and construction were not delayed, could result in a completion and move in around early summer of 2028.
According to the district, Thomas and district administrators met in November to discuss what would be needed in an expanded Mars Area Centennial School. Based upon input received, two options have been provided.
The first option for the project would include a new three-story, 12-classroom addition on the western end of the building as well as new music, choral and band rooms and a PTO room on the eastern end of the school. The project would also include an addition to the school’s main entrance to house a new main office/guidance suite.
The existing main office and guidance office would be renovated into classrooms and other education spaces; the STEAM classroom would be relocated to the former band room; and, the school’s cafeteria would be expanded into existing space; and some additional classroom spaces would be renovated.
The second option would include a new two-story wing across the center of the building, with a new main office and expanded library space on the first level and new and renovated classroom spaces on the second floor. A two-story, eight-classroom addition would also be located on the western end of the building.
The school’s guidance office and an expanded STEAM classroom would be relocated to alternate spaces on the first floor of the building, and the cafeteria would be expanded. On the second floor, several classroom spaces would also be renovated.
“We found that in any event, the improvements and the expansion were necessary at the elementary school, no matter which option you chose, that proceeded first,” Thomas said.
Board members told Thomas on Tuesday night to start looking further into proposals for athletics facilities.
“The long-term objective for you is to start looking, you’re a growing district, to start looking at where you might develop other athletic facilities you don’t have now,” Thomas said. “We could talk about a process for making that happen, where you do a more in-depth study, maybe districtwide facilities master plan, where you start earmarking some spaces for development.”
Thomas said based on conversations he has had, the grandstands at the football stadium are most important. But if you do grandstands first, he said, you get into other areas like the press box, electrical work and the need for LED lighting.
Possibilities could involve moving the track to another location with a new turf field, moving grandstands further in or adding seating.
“When you look at all these interconnected parts of the stadium, I think you quickly realize that you really need to pursue another option. Whether you do or not remains to be seen, but the other options being if you move the stadium, since you’re rebuilding a piece of it, and that’s why I hope you would undertake a further study to look at where you might put something like that, along with other expanded capabilities throughout the district,” Thomas said.
