Moon Area middle school conversion continues to take shape
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Moon Area High School is being converted into a middle school. Construction workers work on the pool area.
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The conversion of Moon Area High School into a middle school is so dramatic, former students will be hard-pressed to recognize the school while inside it.
The $45.8 million renovation project is on schedule for completion in 12 months for the 2012-13 school year.
Opened in 1968 for grades 10 through 12, the building on Beaver Grade Road has served thousands of high school students and is being made ready for about 1,200 fifth- through eighth-graders.
The existing middle school building on University Boulevard will be razed after the completion of the 2011-12 school year, making way for practice fields and additional parking.
"When this is done, the campus will be sensational," said Melissa Heasley, middle school principal.
These renovations are part of a $122.3 million campus improvement project headed by Eckels Architecture of New Castle and include construction of a $76 million high school, which opened in January.
The projects were funded with the proceeds of bonds issued in 2004 for $71.6 million, in 2009 for $20 million, and in 2010 for $30 million, said Allan Bennett, director of fiscal and school services.
The 2004 bond also paid for McCormick Elementary renovations, traffic lights at the campus' main entrance at University Boulevard, the McCormick athletic field project and miscellaneous smaller projects.
The refurbished two-story building will have a distinct academic wing that will be known as the "lower house" and "upper house" according to Mrs. Heasley.
The lower house on the first floor will hold fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms. The upper house will be for seventh- and eighth-graders. Each grade will also have its own computer classroom and access to science labs.
The "specials wing" will house "encore classes," including art, family consumer science, computer/keyboarding, technical-education, health and world language classes including French, Spanish and German.
Music, technical education and physical education classes will remain where they were located in the former high school.
The gymnasium is receiving a "face-lift, if you will," said Mrs. Heasley.
The flooring is still in good condition, and new windows will be installed. The old coaches locker room will become student gymnasium lockers. The wrestling room is being converted into a fitness room with treadmills and weights.
First Published August 4, 2011 5:32 am
