Allegheny Valley School Board eyes proposals for Colfax Elementary demolition

Allegheny Valley School Board has agreed to request additional detailed proposals for the demolition of Colfax Elementary School.

Canzian-Johnston and Associates, a New Kensington architectural firm, previously supplied the board with a demolition plan for the school in Springdale.

Actual cost of demolition totaled around $676,000 in that plan, according to Superintendent Patrick Graczyk, but it did not include the cost of asbestos abatement. With that cost added in, the total comes to about $1.1 million, he said.

“What we realize is the last proposals were not detailed proposals but rather the scope of demolition,” he said.

Graczyk put forth the names of other firms that could be consulted for detailed plans on the demolition project, some of which were suggested by board members.

They included Canzian-Johnston, the Reynolds Group of Pittsburgh, which Graczyk said is a construction management firm, the Foreman Group of Zelienople, Eckles Architecture of New Castle and VEBH Architects of Pittsburgh.

He said the board would have to pay a fee to each firm to have them author a plan and then choose which one they think is the best.

A graphic Graczyk displayed to the board Tuesday showed what the process will look like, including identifying architects, visiting the site and drafting an agreement with the selected firm.

When asked about his thoughts on the Canzian- Johnston estimate, district buildings and grounds supervisor Cesareo Sanchez said, “It looks high but that is why it is good to have two or three more.”

The board’s goal is to have the old building on Colfax Street razed before the start of the 2020-21 school year and then possibly sell the vacant lot for development.

Graczyk said previously the cost of the demolition would come out of the budget surplus the district carries from year to year.