Renovations advance to make Erie High, other school district buildings, 'warm, safe and dry'

The marketing classroom at Erie High School once felt like a furnace.

"We used to die in here it was so hot," 18-year-old Lawton Ortiz said.

On Thursday, the new heating and cooling system in the classroom allowed Ortiz to work comfortably.

The temperature was at 67 degrees Fahrenheit, rather than 85 or 90 F. And new flooring and other changes made the space brighter and more welcoming.

The upgrades are part of the ongoing multimillion-dollar construction projects at Erie High and other Erie School District buildings — projects whose progress might be overlooked as the school district is focused on getting through the pandemic.

At Erie High, the first phase of the renovations, with a latest estimated cost at $26 million, is on schedule to be done by the end of the coming summer, said Neal Brokman, who is overseeing the construction projects as the Erie School District's executive director of operations.

Massive project: Erie School District to renovate Erie High as part of 'warm, safe and dry' building plan

The renovations at Erie High are part of Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito's plan to make all the district's 16 school buildings "warm, safe and dry." Years of budget woes left many of the buildings neglected and the district's more than 10,000 students dealing with chronic building issues, such as unreasonably warm classrooms.

The Erie School Board in 2018 approved the initial $80.1 million renovation plan. Polito said the district was able to finance the renovations after it started receiving, in 2018, an additional $14 million in annual state aid to stay solvent.

Federal COVID-19 relief funding allowed the district to expand the renovations, including a second phase of renovations at Erie High. That phase is projected to cost $39 million, Brokman said.

Lots of work at Erie High

As the Erie School District's biggest school, at 500,000 square feet and with more than 2,300 students, Erie High is getting a lot of attention. Many of its classrooms and other areas had not undergone major overhauls since the school, at 3325 Cherry St., opened in the late 1950s as Erie Technical Memorial High School.

Erie High is getting a new heating and ventilation system, including air conditioning in the areas without windows in the northern part of the school.

It is also getting a new electrical system, a new elevator, a remodeled library and a revamped entrance, including improvements to the front façade. New windows, new floors and new doors in the hallways are other improvements scheduled for the first phase of the renovations at Erie High. The school's science labs are getting remodeled as well.

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Some plans for the first phase are still undergoing changes. At the School Board's nonvoting committee-of-the whole meeting on Wednesday night, for example, school directors asked for more information before deciding on where to put a new parking lot in the front of the building.

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Much of the renovations at Erie School District schools focus on behind-the-scenes upgrades, such as new HVAC systems. The situation is no different at Erie High, where the previous heating system relied on steam.

"It was ridiculously hot," Brokman said of the temperatures in many classrooms under the old system. "The steam heat, we had no control over."

Second phase to start soon

More changes are coming.

Bids for the second phase of the renovations at Erie High will go out in February and March, Brokman said. He said construction for that second phase is scheduled to start in the summer and take up to three years to complete. Students will continue to stay in the building during the renovations, shifting to rooms that are not under construction.

The second phase features more visible changes, including a revamp of the Erie High gym and construction of a new entrance, in the rear of the building, to the gym. The school's south and north offices and auditorium will also get renovated.

Classrooms on Erie High's south side will get overhauled in the second phase, just as the classrooms on the north side underwent renovations in the first phase. The south side classrooms will get new HVAC systems and, if the budget allows, air conditioning, Brokman said.

With all the renovations at Erie High, "the biggest change is what is happening behind the walls," Brokman said.

He was referring to the infrastructure improvements, including the HVAC upgrades that have kept the temperatures in the renovated classrooms at a comfortable 67 degrees.

When all the renovations are done, Brokman said, "that building will be ready to operate for another 60 years."

Staff photographer Greg Wohlford contributed to this report.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Renovations advance to make Erie High, other buildings, 'warm, safe and dry'