WILKES-BARRE — Plans by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District to convert the Times Leader building into class space are moving forward, with Panzitta Enterprises expected to appear at the July 20 meeting of the Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board to obtain required variances. The school district itself is also on the hearing board’s agenda for the July 20 meeting.
That and other updates regarding the proposed consolidation of Meyers and Coughlin high schools — including seating capacity for the gym, cafeteria and auditorium — came out during a meeting with the Times Leader Opinion Board Monday morning.
Solicitor Ray Wendolowski and School Board President Joe Caffrey had requested the meeting about the consolidation process, which has been a constant target of critics who oppose the elimination of the three high school system.
Asked about progress on a plan to have Panzitta buy the Times Leader’s North Main Street building and convert class space rented to the district, Wendolowski said “it’s not a question of if, but a question of when,” noting negotiations among the district, Panzitta and Civitas Media, the newspaper’s parent company, are ongoing.
“We have been led to believe Mr. Panzitta plans to be before the zoning hearing board this month,” Caffrey said.
One of the criticisms leveled at the project is neither the newspaper building nor the current site for Coughlin are zoned for a public school.
The agenda for the July 20 zoning board meeting does not mention Panzitta. Wendolowski said the contractor has yet to submit paperwork.
The agenda does include a request by the district for exceptions and variances regarding zoning at Kistler Elementary on Old River Road. Plans call for expansion of that school to house seventh and eighth grade students currently attending Meyers.
Specifically, the agenda asked for special exception to “construct a three-story, 20,850 square foot addition and to expand allowed parking. It also seeks a variance to increase maximum driveway width from 20 to 32 feet and add a third driveway.
Along with Caffrey and Wendolowski, representatives from the four firms that comprise the district “design team,” the district’s construction manager firm Apollo Group, Inc., and financial consultants attended the meeting.
During the wide-ranging discussion, Architect Kyle Kinsman of WKL Architects revealed more details of the proposed new school, planned to rise four stories and fill both the space of the existing school and the neighboring field extending to Union Street.
Kinsman said the cafeteria will be on the Union Street corner and seat about 600 people. The main entrance, to the left of that and facing North Washington Street, would lead to a large lobby and a “monumental stairway.”
The auditorium, to the left of the lobby entrance, would seat 750. The gym would seat about 1,800 in the bleachers and another 5oo or so on the floor, if needed.
The cafeteria will include a mezzanine area with a media center above it at the front of the building. A two story elevator to the mezzanine would make it potentially accessible for community events. Three other, four-floor elevators will be evenly spaced across the building.
The lower parts of the exterior and the facade around the entry would be either brick or a “limestone-like product,” Kinsman said, while metal sheeting would be used on upper floors to save money.
Some other comments:
• Wendolowski said construction on district-owned property along Empire Street was ruled out partly because of soil contamination fears, but also because a stream running through it actually made it a higher flood risk than the Coughlin site, which is protected from flooding of the Susquehanna River by the levee system.
• Caffrey said he would like to see the entire district switch to a kindergarten through grade eight system, but future boards would have to make that decision. Wendolowski said paperwork submitted by the district to the state for possible construction cost reimbursement provides flexibility in that direction.
• Curriculum director Brian Costello, who will become superintendent when Bernard Prevuznak retires Aug. 31, argued the district has made progress in the last three years, thanks to curriculum and scheduling changes. He noted student were offered more than $10 million in scholarships this year, while it ran “from $5 million to $8 million” in the past.
The meeting was peppered with efforts to redefine the project as a positive, countering recurring criticism being done in haste and full of potential disadvantages.
Patrick Endler of Borton-Lawson noted people consider the lack of parking and the fact that Washington Street is one way as disadvantages, but countered there is ample parking space within one block the district can use without paving more land, and the one-way street is safer than four-lane roads that bordered other proposed sites.
“We need to do a better job of changing the conversation about what is an advantage or what is a disadvantage,” Endler said. “What seems like a disadvantage can be an advantage.”
Wilkes-Barre Area School Board Solicitor Ray Wendolowski, center, talks to the Times Leader Opinion Board about the district’s building plan for city schools with school board vice-president Denise Thomas, left, and board president Joe Caffrey, right.
http://timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_wbschools.jpg
Wilkes-Barre Area School Board Solicitor Ray Wendolowski, center, talks to the Times Leader Opinion Board about the district’s building plan for city schools with school board vice-president Denise Thomas, left, and board president Joe Caffrey, right.
Sean McKeag | Times Leader
By Mark Guydish
mguydish@timesleader.com
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish