NEW LOOK FOR NEW YEAR
Nearly complete: Students start school at renovated Knapp Elementary
LANSDALE >> Students and families had their first look at the new Knapp Elementary School this week.
District officials heard an update on the years’ long renovations there on Monday night, and early reactions from orientation visits ahead of the first day of a new school year there.
“It was so wonderful to see the parents and the kids coming through those front doors, looking up at that main vestibule, and the windows, and the open concept there in that foyer. I’m very proud of that building,” said Superintendent Todd Bauer.
The renovations at Knapp have been ongoing since June 2020, and have added a new classroom wing and bus entrance, along with updated utilities and infrastructure throughout the building and outside. The project team gave an update on the renovations on Monday night, noting nearly all of the remaining punch-list items have been complete, and discussing a change order proposed for board approval in September.
“Out of the 1,308 items that were posted to the punch list, 78 of those are still outstanding, or roughly 6%,” said project construction manager Bill Slawter.
Since the July update, nearly all of the flooring inside Knapp has been completed, a masonry sign outside has been completed and is awaiting an LED controller unit, and the playground, curbing and sidewalks around the building perimeter are now complete, Slawter told the committee, showing slides of the most recent work.
“The line striping and signage has been completed,” he said. “We are just starting to do the final landscaping installation, raking and seeding and shrub installation.”
Lansdale Borough code staff inspected the building on Aug. 22 and issued a temporary certificate of occupancy, with two changes requested that will not impact the opening of school, Slawter added. Montgomery County’s Department of Health inspected the school’s new kitchen on Aug. 4, granting its own approval, and staff have trained through August on that new equipment, while contractors have narrowed down
their remaining punch-list items from a list that was four digits long.
“Now that school starts tomorrow, these items will have to be done after hours, after dismissal, on holidays or weekends,” Slawter said.
Two items were identified and requested by Lansdale during their inspection, both having to do with additional fire protection behind the walls in parts of the new school, which Slawter said the contractors will complete during those offhours. Outside the building, the borough has signed off on all exterior signage and roadway upgrades, while contractors are still awaiting similar PennDOT approval, and a change order requested has to do with conditions found underground as final paving approached.
“We noticed there were multiple areas in the front parking lot that were yielding — in other words, the pavement was breaking up, and that meant unsuitable soil bearing capacity below,” Slawter said.
The project contractors had already maxed out their allowance of replacement soil, so the new change order requests payment for 300 cubic yards
of new soil at a total cost of $21,000 to stabilize the ground before final paving; the total cost will be zero because the expense will come from cost allowances already included in the project contract.
“You would see in the parking lot, where areas are ‘alligatored,’ which are broken up into very small pieces. We had multiple locations that were already exhibiting that, prior to starting construction, from the bus traffic, so we knew we were in for some replacement,” Slawter said.
“But as we were doing testing for bearing capacity, we found a couple of other areas that were also yielding ground. If we were to place pavement on there without doing this reclamation, the new pavement would’ve certainly broken up in a short period of time. This will extend the longterm performance of the paving,” he said.
Also included in that change order is addition of a new wall partition to enclose a structural steel column, and installation of a chain-link fence around exterior utility equipment at the rear of the school, Slawter told the committee. Facilities committee chairwoman Cathy Wesley asked if increased activity at the school once classes start would make the problem worse, and Slawter said it would not.
“The goal is to do this prior to final paving, so that you address everything. You have a firm base coat and top coat of paving, so the goal is to get this at the subgrade level, so that the paving will last for an extended period of time,” he said.
As he spoke, Slawter showed a series of photos to the committee, with new striping on the fresh pavement already poured, and construction equipment and piles of soil next to the areas still unpaved. Wesley asked if the project had a formal substantial completion date, and Slawter said that would depend on the landscaping items that are weather-dependent, but the inside areas of the building are all ready for use. Wesley then asked about the 78 remaining punch list items, and Slawter said he considers “most of them are minor in nature,” with the largest being an issue with the flooring.
“There are four individual bathrooms that the installation of the tile work, we feel, is unacceptable,” he said. “The contractor has been requested to clean them for some time now, and remediate some of the tile work. They have yet to perform that.”
Wesley then asked if that had any impact on safety, and Slawter said it did not: “It’s an appearance issue: poor workmanship, poor appearance, not cleaning the floors.”
Committee member, and Knapp parent, Juliane Ramic asked if families with kids attending the school would be notified of those issues, and district Director of Facilities and Operations Tom Schneider said he’s in regular contact with the school principal.
“As far as the students and parents, they wouldn’t notice much of it, because inside the building is completed,” Schneider said. “We have a pile of dirt sitting outside, there could be some items that have to be handled outside, but I don’t think the project is in a state of incompletion.
“Some things will need to occur over the next couple of weeks: for example, the dirt pile that’s there, we will always need to have a dirt pile there, until the final basin is completed,” he said, which could take until late fall or next spring depending on weather and permits.
Bauer then added that he visited Knapp during a kindergarten orientation earlier Monday, “and there was some work going on outside, there were some contractors there, but the function inside of the building, I don’t think anyone would’ve noticed.”
Ramic added that she was “most excited to see the bus loop in action,” bringing school buses around a new driveway away from the parent drop-off area, and Bauer said a drive past was worth the visit: “that front left side is painted now, and it looks beautiful.”
Schneider added that all remaining contractor work will be done when students are not in school, and Wesley said parents and students should keep in mind the project work was done during a challenging two years.
“Yeah, we all want them done, we’d like it to be perfect, we’d like to have the other punch list (items) completed. But I want to remind everyone, that when this all started, there was a pandemic, and there were a number of challenges based on the supply chain, materials, all of the above,” she said.
“I have confidence that this team will take it to the finish line, continuing to be a safe project for staff, for the workers, and for our students there,” Wesley said.
North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Sept. 15 at North Penn High School, 1340 Valley Forge Road in Towamencin, and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 online. For more information visit www.NPenn.org.