Dedication of expanded, renovated high school

School district officials held a open house and dedication ceremony for the three-year $30 million project.

LOWER POTTSGROVE » Matt Alexander and Justin Valentine both remember long nights spent in the planning and debating how much renovation and expansion was appropriate for Pottsgrove High School.

The current and former school board president will now also remember speaking at the lectern in the new lobby Friday afternoon about how it was all worth it.

More than a year after it opened for classes in its new form, district officials held a open house and dedication ceremony for the three-year $30 million project.

The expansion added a new gymnasium, new athletic space, new art, science and engineering classrooms and expanded the library and cafeteria.

“Whenever I drive past the building now, I think ‘it looks just like the architects pictures,’” Valentine said.

“I love this project, the energy, how involved the staff and even the students were in making the decisions,” said Mike Kelly, project’s chief architect from KCBA Architects.

“When we first started talking about this project, it an was $11 million building envelope project,” said former Pottsgrove School Board President Justin Valentine. “I’m glad the administration had the wisdom to get us to look at a broader project.”

Alexander said he has dealt with the project all four years of his first term on the board.

“We really are now in the 21st Century for education and this project takes a big step toward our goal of making Pottsgrove a school district of choice,” he said.

“This is a state of the art facility, modeled on what the world, work place and universities look like,” said Principal William Ziegler.

After the ribbon was cut, visitors were offered a tour of the building, which includes new spaces for art, music, science and athletics.

The district will also bury a time capsule that is not to be opened until 2041.

Online: For a Twitter recap of the dedication ceremony and tour, as well as photos and video from the Pottsgrove High School Homecoming Ceremony Friday, visit POTTSMERC.COM

“This project has taken us a long way toward becoming a district of choice.”

Matt Alexander, Pottsgrove School Board President

EVAN BRANDT — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Pottsgrove School Board President Matt Alexander and Superintendent William Shirk cut the ribbon dedicating the expanded and renovated Pottsgrove High School

EVAN BRANDT — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Residents taking Friday’s tour of the renovated high school stop by the school’s new library.

EVAN BRANDT — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Former school board president Justin Valentine says the board spent “many late nights” on planning for the high school expansion and renovation.