CRESSON — The Penn Cambria School Board awarded a series of bids Tuesday associated with the construction of a new two-story elementary addition to the high school campus, which officials hope to begin constructing next year and move into by the 2027-28 school year.

The total cost of base bids and selected alternates is about $18.6 million.

The board awarded a general construction contract to J.C. Orr & Son Inc. for about $14.3 million, which includes several alternate bids.

Superintendent Jamie Hartline said the alternates include work to reconfigure the high school’s entryway, construct new entryway signage, install wall cabinets in the new addition’s classrooms as well as security fobs for teachers to enter their classrooms.

The alternates also include a 20-year roof warranty, brick cleaning and staining of the high school building and the installation of concrete sidewalks and curbs instead of asphalt sidewalks and curbs, which are listed in the base bid, Hartline said.

The board also awarded a food service construction contract for $746,614 to Great West Lake LLC; a fire protection construction contract for $381,736 to DC Goodman and Sons; a plumbing construction contract for $821,459 to Shipley Plumbing LLC; and an electrical systems construction contract for $2.4 million to Hallstrom Clark Electric Inc.

Board member Matthew Kearney moved to award the construction bids. His motion was given a second by board member Anthony Dziabo and passed unanimously, with member Jeffrey Stohon absent from the meeting.

In other business, by a 6-2 vote, with Kearney and Dziabo opposed, the board awarded an alternate bid to J.C. Orr & Son Inc. for work associated with extending a roadway at Sixth Street to McGarrity Lane at a cost of $23,400.

An existing path that runs from the pre-primary school past the district’s athletic fields will be extended to McGarrity Lane, providing the district with an alternative route in and out of the pre-primary school should an emergency occur, Hartline said.

Kearney said the roadway “wasn’t something that the board recommended.”

Kearney said he feels it was “thrown in the project toward the end” as more of an athletic consideration than an academic one.

“I think we need to talk about how fortunate we are as a district to be able to play in Lilly. I think it’s one of the best fields in the area,” Kearney said.

Board member Guy Monica asked Hartline to explain the need for the roadway.

“Right now the way the pre-primary school is oriented, once you’re into that parking lot, you’ve got one way in and one way out. There’s no other vehicle access road to get in or out for events,” Hartline said.

“Anybody who’s involved in emergency services is going to tell you that you need two ways in and out, especially when you’re going to have as many students as we’re going to have in that area,” he said, noting the roadway would benefit every student on campus.

In addition to the safety of students and visitors in that area, the roadway would help with traffic flow, prevent congestion and support the district’s athletic facilities, Hartline said.

Board President Mike Sheehan said safety is his No. 1 concern.

“I would hate to look back and think that we didn’t put in a road that would cost us a minimal amount of money over some personal conflicts and then something happens,” Sheehan said.

Dziabo voiced concerns against the roadway, including that it was not part of the district’s original plan. He claimed the district didn’t do its due diligence by seeking input from residents who live along McGarrity Lane.

Board members Carrie Andraychak, Anthony Tomaselli and Rudy McCarthy spoke in favor of the roadway project during the meeting.

Once the elementary addition is constructed, district officials plan to close the intermediate school in Lilly and the middle school in Gallitzin and consolidate onto one campus in Cresson. It’s estimated about 1,500 students will be on the campus once the elementary addition is occupied, according to Hartline.

Under the district’s plan, the pre-primary school will house pre-K through first grade, the new addition will house second through sixth grades and the high school will house grades seven through 12.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.