Allegheny Valley School Board votes, again, to tear down Colfax Elementary in Springdale

The adage claiming that history repeats itself is holding true for Colfax Elementary School in Springdale.

Three years after the Allegheny Valley School Board voted to demolish the vacant building, it still stands. This week, the school board again voted to tear it down.

That decision comes as the board is looking at doing needed improvements to Springdale Senior-Junior High School that have an estimated price of between $4 million and $5 million. That will likely will involve borrowing through a bond issue.

In 2018, Colfax Elementary closed when its students were moved to the newly renovated Acmetonia Elementary School.

For months afterward, the school board wrestled with the building’s fate: demolishing it, selling it or repurposing it.

In October 2019, the school board voted to tear it down at an estimated cost of $1 million, including the cost of asbestos abatement.

But in May 2020, the board reversed itself and put it up for sale with an asking price of $1.9 million.

“We’ve tried selling it for over two years now, and nobody wants to buy it,” School Director Paula Jean Moretti said.

“At some point we do have to make a decision,” board member Salvatore Conte said. “It’s an eyesore up there.”

He said the cost of demolishing the building has risen while the board has waited for a buyer.

“Now it’s $1.5 million, and in two years it could be $3 million,” he said. Conte made a motion to tear Colfax down.

Moretti suggested that the board consider shutting off the utilities remaining in service to help preserve the building.

She said the board should postpone a decision on Colfax in order to focus on the first phase of the high school renovations and also give board members more time to gather information before deciding Colfax’s fate.

As for financing the demolition, Hamsini Rajgopal, the district’s director of finance and business operations, said it is not clear if it was included in the renovations estimate provided by Sitelogiq, the district’s architectural consultant.

Superintendent Patrick Graczyk said if it is not part of the estimate, it likely would be included in the district’s financing package.

Board president Larry Pollick noted the board is in agreement about proceeding with the renovation program, regardless.

“I agree with Mr. Conte that the time to try to sell it is over,” Pollick said.

He wondered why other school districts in the Alle-Kiski Valley have closed school buildings and managed to sell them.

Pollick attributed the lack of buyers, at least in part, to the residential zoning for Colfax. He said that may have put off prospective buyers who did not want to deal with seeking zoning changes or conditional use status from Springdale Borough.

Conte withdrew his motion, deferring to Moretti’s comments saying he wanted to put it on next week’s meeting agenda in order to make sure all board members can get the information they need.

Ironically, Moretti then made the very same motion to demolish the building, which Conte seconded.

It was approved in a 5-2 vote with Glenna Renaldi and David Buchman opposing it. Board members Stephen Puskar and Beth Bosco were absent.

Asked why she had a change of heart, Moretti said initially she did want more time to consider the decision.

“Then I thought: ‘In a couple of years do I want the cost to double?’”