KARNS CITY — Karns City Area School District is pushing forward in the next few months with various capital projects.

The district’s school board received a presentation Monday, July 21, from Eckles Construction Services on the status of multiple projects for the district of 1,300 students.

The renovation and expansion of Karns City Area Elementary School, with its price tag of roughly $25 million, is almost entirely complete.

Superintendent Eric Ritzert said the school will be fully operational this fall, though there are some small items, such as replacing carpet throughout the building due to a defect, that still need done.

John Pappas, president of Eckles Construction Services, told the board work on the new playground was recently completed. Meanwhile, inspectors are wrapping up any final walk-throughs and inspections needed. Concrete crews are on-site frequently to do work, while contract work — which includes HVAC, plumbing and electric — are finishing up.

Meanwhile, work to fix the high school roof is ongoing. Recent weather has made it more difficult than expected to do consistent work on the roof repairs.

“It has been a challenging summer, mostly due to the weather has not cooperated. It’s been hard to get long stretches of days without rain,” Pappas said. “We’re hoping this week, with better weather and good temperatures, will allow workers to jump in.”

The district approved a $5 million bond in May to spend on capital projects, the bulk of which would be dedicated to replacing the majority of the high school roof.

The school board Monday also approved upgrading the lighting at the high school stadium.

The school board also is considering the possibility of putting a new baseball field and softball field onto the hill above the high school stadium. Ritzert said it is still a hypothetical idea.

“What we’re looking for is to have a home field in our own backyard we can utilize for our baseball and softball teams. There’s a desire to develop property either over by Sugarcreek Elementary, or here by the high school, so that is an option we want to look at. We have about 70 acres. Unfortunately, it’s up on a hill,” Ritzert said.

The district is in the process of removing remaining items in and around the former Sugarcreek school. Superintendent Eric Ritzert said the district plans to donate old playground equipment to Sugarcreek Community Park.

The district voted in April to move forward with demolishing the former Sugarcreek Elementary School. The former school, in Sugarcreek Township, Armstrong County, closed at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Previously, the board of directors had been considering razing the building to convert the land into athletic fields.

Ritzert said there isn’t a concrete timetable for the demolition because it still is in the process of obtaining permits, but it is anticipating approval and demolition of the building sometime during 2026.

In the meantime, the district is looking to let local firefighters use the Sugarcreek building for training purposes.