With the handrails of the home-side grandstand at the Norwin Knights Stadium starting to detach from the structure and concrete and masonry showing signs of deterioration, a study will help school officials determine whether repairs or replacement are needed.

The Norwin School Board this week approved the proposal from DRAW Collective, a Mt. Lebanon-based architectural firm, to assess the stadium facilities and conduct a feasibility study of the home-side grandstand and complex. There will be conceptual design drawings for options to renovate or replace the grandstand structure, with up to three configurations focusing on the main structure and adjacent support functions, according to the proposal from Cassandra Renninger, a principal with DRAW Collective.

The assessment of the grandstand will identify priority improvements to extend the life of the structure, according to the proposal.

Superintendent Jeff Taylor said following the meeting that the grandstand is about 60 years old.

Each element of the stadium complex — the fieldhouse, visitors and home grandstands and several support facilities — “has a pressing list of safety and deferred maintenance concerns,” Renninger said. The study will give the district an updated review of the site and assessment of the structural integrity of the facilities.

There also will be options for improving the seating required under the Americans With Disabilities Act, as well as options that do not rely upon an elevator to take those needing assistance to their seats. The ADA seating is about eight feet above the concourse level and the elevator “has become very unreliable,” Renninger stated in the proposal.

Using structural engineers, civil engineers and electrical, plumbing and heating, ventilating and air condition engineers, the study will cost the district about $63,000. The assessment of the athletic facilities could be completed by mid-September and the feasibility study could be done by the end of October.

Norwin’s sports teams use the stadium throughout the school year. Any project that the school board would approve likely would not be done until next year, Taylor said.

Funding for a project at the stadium would come from the capital improvements fund, said board President Darlene Ciocca. The board issued $9.95 million worth of bonds in February for capital improvement projects and will borrow another $9.95 million in 2024 through a bond issue.

The board on Monday also agreed to replace the roof at Sheridan Terrance Elementary School, at a cost estimated to be between $1.3 million and $1.5 million. The district could advertise for bids late this year or early next year. The work could start in the spring and continue into fall 2024, according to the architect.

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