Elizabeth Forward School Board to vote on architecture firm for auditorium rebuild
ELIZABETH, Pa. (KDKA) — The Elizabeth Forward School Board will move the rebuild phase forward this week after a fire destroyed the high school's auditorium.
On Tuesday night, the board will vote on hiring an architecture firm to look at rebuilding options more than two months after the fire hit the auditorium.
Scott Henry, school board secretary, says he wants an updated school, whether it's a refurbished building or a new building.
"It's an old building," he said. "It needs updates. It was built in 1956. We have an opportunity to make some decisions as a board to improve that building for the long term."
Henry says it will take an architecture firm six to eight weeks to assess the building. And while the district continues working with the insurance company on what it will and won't cover, the board has been talking to politicians in Harrisburg, including state senators Jim Brewster and Andrew Kuzma.
"I would ask anybody who is in Harrisburg to look at this unprecedented situation and figure it out," Henry said.
"We are going to look at every possible funding source that is available to a school district to help us offset the costs to the local taxpayer," he added.
Kuzma issued a statement Monday, saying in part:
"I will support Elizabeth Forward School District in any way possible and am looking forward to studying the final plan outlined by the district along with any budget shortfalls that can be alleviated. ... While I will do everything possible to maximize the amount of state funding coming to Elizabeth Forward, a method to deliver $100,000,000 for a new school does not exist."
"We are not asking them to pay the whole bill, but we are asking for them to contribute and help solve this problem because what happened to us can happen to any other school district," Henry said.
Tuesday's special meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.