New updates given on Ellwood City Area renovation projects
ELLWOOD CITY – Lincoln High School football players could be on their home field by the end of September.
District Director of Facilities Management Paul Pishioneri said last week that he expects renovation work on Helling Stadium to be completed on Sept. 28.
He said all underground work has been completed, and workers are putting down new concrete and blacktop, as well as new gravel which will serve as the subbase for the new turf field.
District Superintendent Wesley Shipley reiterated that the new track, once completed, will be open to the public.
He said due to the way the stadium and the bleachers are set up, the district is able to host local track and field meets, but cannot hold any “major competitions,” such as WPIAL championships due to bleachers blocking the visibility for some of the track.
Shipley said the district once considered moving the bleachers, but said that would have cost millions of dollars.
In regard to the high school football team, Shipley said due to the team’s schedule this year, the team was only going to have four home games, so the team is looking to host two home games, possibly three, this season, depending on when construction is over.
He said on days when the team was scheduled to have a home game during construction, the team will either have a “home game” at their opponent’s stadium or play an additional away game and have the home game against the same team next year.
Shipley said he believes the district the team plays in should have enough referees to officiate the season, and that the district might look to get new lights for the baseball fields near Helling Stadium in the future, as part of a community campaign drive.
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Every stadium got repainted, with the colors being “Ellwood blue” with white stripes.
Pishioneri said a new heating boiler, a domestic water boiler, and chiller has been installed in North Side Primary School.
Renovation work on Hartman Intermediate School is 90% complete, and should be finished by the time school begins on Aug. 24. The office area for the school has been completed.
Pishioneri said contractors and engineers, due to supply shortages, drove all the way down to Mexico to pick up the chiller they needed, in order to make sure it was installed by the time school started.
He said a lot of behind-the-scenes leg work has been done to prepare for the upcoming large-scale renovation work for Perry Lower Intermediate School, which is expected to begin this October.
More: Perry renovations to begin in October, last until December 2023
Pishioneri said as part of the renovations, five teachers from Perry will be moved to Hartman.
District Technology Director Katelyn Grzybowski said affected students and their families have been notified, and that they can go to the district’s online Alma portal to get more information as well.
This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: New updates given on Ellwood City Area renovation projects
