New Upper Perk Middle School behind schedule

Evan Brandt -- Digital First Media Evan Brandt - Digital First Media The new Upper Perkiomen Middle School is now under construction on Montgomery Avenue.

Evan Brandt -- Digital First Media Evan Brandt - Digital First Media Daniel V. Cicala, principal with Fidevia, left, and Troy C. Hill, with Blackney Hayes Architects, review preliminary plans for the conversion of the first floor of the current Upper Perkiomen Middle School into a center for grades 4 and 5.

Evan Brandt -- Digital First Media Evan Brandt - Digital First Media This perspective shows that some of the brickwork on the $60 million middle school is underway, but officials want the building "enclosed" by the start of winter weather.

Evan Brandt - Digital First Media The new Upper Perkiomen Middle School is now under construction on Montgomery Avenue.

PENNSBURG – The Upper Perkiomen School Board voted unanimously Thursday to move $50,000 from a contingency fund to pay overtime salaries in an attempt to get the $60 million middle school project back on schedule.

As of Thursday night, the project was 18 days behind its scheduled timeline.

The same night, the board heard plans for the conversion of the first floor of the current middle school into a center for grades 4 and 5, a project initially estimated to cost more than $3 million.

Both developments are part of the tumultuous history of the Upper Perkiomen School District’s attempts to build a new middle school.

Most recently, the school board voted first to halt construction on the project, and then reversed that decision and started it back up again.

The current middle school, located on Jefferson Street in East Greenville, is 80 years old and has had five additions over the past decades.

It is also over-crowded.

Once construction on the new building began, the district began making plans for the older building. Turning it into a center for grades 4 and five will open up space at Upper Perkiomen’s two elementary schools.

The school board is also considering the idea of using the upper floor as a new location for administrative offices, Superintendent Alexis McGloin confirmed Friday.

It is unclear what would happen to the current education center building if that option is chosen.

Thursday night, Daniel Cicala, a principal with a finance company named Fidevia and Troy C. Hill, with Blackney Hayes architects, outlined preliminary plans for the first floor.

They said the $3 million project could be completed over a summer, preventing mid-year disruption of the school year.

A “second phase” for the second floor will be presented at next month’s school board meeting, Cicala said. That will include conceptual plans for moving education center offices into that building.

In the meantime, the construction at the new middle school on Montgomery Avenue, adjacent to the high school, is ongoing but running behind.

On Thursday, Zachary S. Zazo, an overseer from D’Huy Engineering Inc., asked for and received permission from the school board to access $50,000 out of the contingency fund to help pay for overtime work.

This will not increase the cost of the project as the contingency fund is part of the budget for the project.

Zazo said the wet summer and “aggressive schedule” for construction are in conflict and the work has fallen behind schedule, although until the recent rains workers were only 10 days behind.

The goal is to get the building “enclosed,” walls and windows all finished, before harsh winter weather arrives, thus making in the indoor work move more quickly.

Board member Melanie Cunningham, who heads the facilities committee and was opposed to the project, provided her vote “reluctantly. I don’t want to be the bad guy. I realize we need to finish on time,” she said.