Engineering firm selected for new Quaker Valley High School project

Quaker Valley School District officials have selected a Wall-based engineering firm to be the civil engineers for their new high school project.

The board unanimously voted on Aug. 30 to approve a near $553,000 deal with Phillips & Associates, contingent upon review and approval from district solicitor Don Palmer.

Charlie Gauthier, director of facilities for QVSD, said the firm was selected out of five companies to help craft a site plan and work with representatives from BSHM and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects on future high school-related matters.

“I think this is the best choice we have for the project,” Gaithier said of Phillips & Associates.

The proposed school is on 150 acres of land off of Camp Meeting Road that straddles Leet Township and Edgeworth and Leetsdale boroughs.

The preliminary plan for the school would use 47 acres for the building. The site already has 10 acres cleared out, but the district wants to leave a lot of landscape as a buffer.

Other construction is not expected any time soon, however, as the district is still in the process of acquiring zoning approvals from Leet.

Board member Gianni Floro, facilities and operations committee chairman, said he is pleased with the engineering selection.

“We’ve worked with them (before),” Floro said. “Historically, they’ve been a good firm to us. They’ve been very responsive with regard to their work product. They’ve been very thorough with the work that they’ve done, so we’ve been happy working with them. We feel confident in the firm and what they bring and the different people they bring.”

Floro said engineers will work to create a stormwater management plan, outline any necessary road improvements and work with municipalities to ensure everything goes smoothly.

The project is estimated between $85 million and $95 million to be paid for through a bond.

It is unclear when specifications would be ready to go out for bid.

The hope is to have it built and ready for students by the 2025-26 school year, Gauthier said.

District officials and architects led tours of the site in June.

A video introducing the architects was posted on the district’s YouTube page on Aug. 31.

“I want to provide the best building for their kids to learn,” BSHM vice president John Orsini said in the video. “It’s about community respect and community pride. That’s something that we’ll see when the building finally opens.”

BCJ associate principal Patricia Culley said her teams have extensive experience in education projects locally and nationally.

“We want to create an aspirational design that incorporates places of community gathering and creates a place of civic pride as well as creating a new identity for Quaker Valley,” she said. “Our responsibility then is to ensure that that aspiration aligns with the project budget. Designing and creating a building is a team activity.”

More information about the project, including answers to frequently asked questions, is available on the district’s website qvsd.org.