BELLWOOD — The Bellwood-Antis School District took a step toward its recovery from a fire when the school board approved two contracts for major restoration work projects during a Tuesday night meeting.

The contracts will enable a complete replacement of the high school boiler system and interior painting of areas that were damaged by the fire that tore through the gym, locker room and adjacent boiler room in December 2024.

A $682,955 contract will see the current boiler system fully replaced by Combustion Service & Equipment Co. of Pittsburgh. That work, to be completed over the summer break, will include removing the current boilers, intakes and associated piping before the installation of a new system, according to the contract terms.

After installation, CS&E will file with the state Department of Labor and Industry to arrange for an American Society of Mechanical Engineers field inspection and final approval, including all associated costs and permitting.

According to the contract, the new system will be warrantied for defective parts for the first year of operation.

The KN boiler heat exchanger will be warrantied for a 25-year period and the RBI heating and domestic boiler exchangers are warrantied for 10 years, with an additional 21-year thermal shock warranty for the heat exchanger.

The second contract, a $24,500 agreement with Brian Lutz Painting of Altoona, will cover all labor and materials to repaint all fire-damaged areas except the boiler room, according to the contract.

Site prep work like patching holes will be included in the project.

In a separate motion, the board approved a $105,875 contract with CS&E to replace the existing Fulton Pulse Boiler at Myers Elementary School with a new ATH Model KN-16 high efficiency condensing boiler, according to the contract.

The new boiler will use the existing ModSync control system.

Included in the contract is a one year from startup warranty for defective parts for the boiler and a 25-year warranty for the boiler’s heat exchanger, according to the contract.

All workmanship by installation subcontractor Johnson Mechanical LLC of Altoona will be warranted for a period of one year from startup.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535