ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown School Board unanimously approved the schematic design for a new $100 million school planned for the former Allentown State Hospital property on the city’s East Side.
The approval came after the item was advanced in a special meeting held Thursday evening before the regular board meeting.
School directors chose not to vote on the schematic design at a committee meeting earlier this month because they were unhappy with the renderings, saying the proposed building looked too much like a prison at the time.
Though their concerns were not relevant to the scope of schematic design, Breslin Architects updated their renderings of the school site.
Allentown School District plans to build the new school on 16.7 acres off of Hanover Avenue. ASD’s solicitor is negotiating an agreement to purchase the property. The school will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Allentown School District plans to build the new K-8 school on 16.7 acres off of Hanover Avenue on the city's East Side.
Stephen Behrens, principal architect, explained Thursday that the schematic design school directors were asked to approve pertains to items such as site layout, building shape and sustainability goals, not the color of building materials, window sizes or landscaping.
Behrens presented much of the same information shared earlier this month, highlighting some changes to the site renderings.
The new renderings have an abundance of glass into the interior spaces and additional glass on the building’s stair tower, addressing school directors’ feedback that they wanted to see more glass and less brick. There’s also floor-to-ceiling windows in the academic wings of the building. What brick remains has been changed from a clay color to gray.
Board President Andrene Brown-Nowell asked whether there’s safety concerns with so much glass. Behrens said the glass is tinted to make it hard to see into the building from outside during the daytime.
He also said studies show glass by the main entrance of the school and the administrative office can be beneficial for safety so staff can see who’s approaching the building.
Brown-Nowell also reiterated concerns about a wall and gateway area at the front of the school property near Hanover Avenue, saying she didn’t want a wall at all.
School directors previously expressed concerns about having a wall as a physical barrier between the school and community.
Behrens said it’s a necessary retaining wall because the terrain slopes up five feet from Hanover Avenue to the athletic fields on the school site.
The design of the wall is flexible, he said. But the wall itself is necessary for safety, such as for keeping balls on the athletic fields from rolling out onto the street.
The next phase of the school project is design and development.
School directors Thursday also approved a parameters resolution, authorizing the future issuance of one or more bond series totaling $135 million for purchasing the East Side school site and constructing the new school building.
Richard Fazio, ASD’s interim chief financial officer, previously said the district will likely spend less than that amount, and any bonds for the project still need to come before the board for approval.
