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The Lebanon school board approved increases to the cost of renovations at Lebanon Intermediate School and adjacent Alumni Stadium at its Monday, July 20 meeting.
The nearly complete project is part of a years-long effort to alleviate districtwide overcrowding that included the construction of a new junior high school.
According to documents posted on the school district’s website, the initial cost of the project, based on contracts awarded to three companies, was $40,204,000. Of that, $26,760,000 was earmarked for general contractor Lobar Associates. Change orders approved before July 20 increased the total cost to $45,449,577.
On July 20, the board approved spending an additional $835,328, based on change orders submitted by Lobar, bringing the total price tag to $46,284,905, a roughly 15% increase from the original cost.
Andre Martin of construction manager Fidevia told the board that, while some change orders were for alternate work that was not initially chosen, others – such as concrete repairs to the stadium and tiling of school stairwells – were for necessary work that was missed or could not be discovered when bids were formulated.
Martin told the board that “there’s been a lot of unforeseen costs … a lot of things that have generated unforeseen conditions.” An example, Martin said, was that “as the work progressed, some areas on the [concrete] underside [of the stadium] were not realized previously as needing repair.”
District superintendent Dr. Nicole Malinoski said in an email to LebTown that “with respect to the stadium concrete repairs, the full extent of the deterioration could not be identified until the existing coating was removed. Once the underlying concrete was exposed, the district requested a comprehensive inspection by a project engineer, who recommended additional repairs to both the underside of the bleachers and the structural components on the top side.”
“Those recommendations,” Malinoski said, “were incorporated into the project to ensure the long-term safety, integrity, and service life of the stadium structure.”
The two largest July 20 change orders were for “tile in stair towers,” $152,001, and “7th Street sidewalk replacement,” $177,377.
Malinoski told LebTown via email that the stair tower change order “covers the installation of tile in all stairwells at Lebanon Intermediate School. During the original bidding process, the stairwells were inadvertently omitted from the project scope. The district was unaware of this oversight until recently. This change order ensures the stairwells are completed in a manner consistent with the rest of the building.”
Martin explained that the sidewalk replacement change order, for work on the 7th Street side of the stadium, was originally an unselected option in the contract proposal, not something that was missed.
“When we were going through selecting alternates, we decided ‘no,’ we didn’t want to take that at the time,” Martin said. “Now, looking at how everything looks nice, the things that didn’t look as bad before now look worse. I think this is one of those items.”
Regarding the sidewalk, board president Robert Okonak added, “I believe there was some safety issue, too, with a drainage area. It’s student and public safety.”
Referring to the proposed change orders collectively, board member William Eckenroth said “I just want to say it’s overwhelming and disappointing that we have to spend all this money at the very end of the project. We should have seen all of this a year and a half ago.” Okonak replied, “It’s concerning, I tend to agree.”
The board approved the change orders unanimously, but only after some silence when Okonak called for a motion, then a second. Board member Matthew Hershey made the motion, after asking Okonak, “Do we understand that some of that work has been done, a lot of it, correct?”
Read More:
- Lebanon School District gives more details on building plans to address overcrowding
- [Photo Story] Groundbreaking held for Lebanon Intermediate School renovations
- Junior High School to open for Lebanon’s 7th, 8th graders this 2024-25 school year
- Starting this fall, Lebanon 5th-graders will attend renovated intermediate school
New A.D. isn’t new to the district
Also on July 20, the board voted to appoint Paul Blackburn as director of athletics and student activities at an annual salary of $93,582.
He succeeds Anthony Sinico, who had held the A.D. position since January 2024.
This will be Blackburn’s second tour of duty at the city schools. He was head basketball coach at Lebanon High from 1998 until 2007. His 2004 Cedars were Lancaster-Lebanon league champions.
After leaving Lebanon, he spent 19 years as head basketball coach and physical education teacher at Hershey High before resigning this spring. Prior to 1998, Blackburn was head basketball coach at Delone Catholic and East Pennsboro high schools.
Malinoski said in an email that the district “received more than ten applications for the position. Following the first round of interviews, Mr. Blackburn emerged as the leading candidate and continued to distinguish himself throughout the selection process.”
Blackburn is a 1986 graduate of Carlisle High School, where he played on two state championship basketball teams, and a 1991 graduate of Slippery Rock University.
Other board business
Also at the July 20 meeting, the school board:
- Recognized Kathy Bishop, secretary to the principal at Southeast Elementary School. She is retiring after 33 years of service to the district.
- Authorized district administrators to explore issuing general obligation bonds to replace existing 2019 bonds, with a minimum annual debt repayment saving of $100,000.
- Approved the purchase of Ford F-350 pickup with plow and salt spreader for $73,697. It will replace the district’s 2009 pickup.
- Approved the restoration, repainting, and resealing of the high school gymnasium floor at a cost of $78,580.00.
- Approved the purchase for $160,232 of assorted tech equipment to be used by students and staff throughout the district.
- Heard from district principals about their plans to comply with Title I, a federally funded program designed to help children meet standards in reading, language arts, and mathematics.
The next public meeting of the Lebanon school board will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17. Meetings are held in the board conference room at Lebanon High School, 1000 S. 8th St., Lebanon.
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