Knoch renovation on schedule to be ready for school year
Knoch School District’s $39 million high school renovation is still on schedule for completion by end of summer — with construction crews working long hours to finish up several key elements.
“It’s been a very busy past month or two. A lot of work going on, a lot of good work, the contractors are on sight and getting things done,” John Pappas, president of Eckles Construction Services, told Knoch’s school board July 9. “When we get to these big summer phases we always say we need to keep making things smaller and smaller, and that’s what’s happening. There’s stages where finishes are almost complete, there’s areas where we’re starting, painting, everything in between.”
Pappas said at Knoch’s July board meeting the district will have to pay for a portion of Dinnerbell Road to be milled and repaved, and a portion of concrete sidewalks to be reconfigured to allow for high spot in that road to “shed water from both sides” when it rains. PennDOT inspectors want the district to revise its intersection plan for a new driveway into the front parking lot so rainwater “does’t pool in front of the entrance.”
Beyond the PennDOT headache, the district is on pace to complete key phases in the coming month.
One of the next areas to be completed, according to Jenny Webb, Knoch’s communications manager, is the school’s new wellness center and workout equipment room. Webb said it is expected to be completed some time in the final two weeks of July.
The project was initially approved during the summer of 2022 and crews have been working on the high school since spring of 2023. The school board has regularly received updates on the project’s status since then. In February, the district celebrated the opening of the new commons area, which includes an expanded cafeteria and a “learning steps” area where students can congregate, study and lounge.
According to a construction update from Eckles Construction Services at the board’s June and July meetings, ongoing construction and demolition is occurring to complete new sidewalks, the science wing, technology-education space, drywall within new corridors of the building and to extend the existing main high school parking lot.
Of the more notable aspects remaining in the renovation project is that construction crews are currently working on laying out and prepping for paving of the new tennis courts. The courts were not initially part of the renovation plan, and were included in late 2024.
Work is also quickly happening in the high school’s new auditorium. Crews are installing seating and putting in a new stage.
The main lawn will also be ready soon, with hydroseeding — a planting process using a mixture of seed and mulch — for efficient growth.
Change orders are still being made as the project winds down. For the month of June, the school board approved change orders totaling about $73,000 to move wiring for a wheelchair lift, install a new gas line, repair damaged plaster in the auditorium ceiling and demolish an unused chimney to allow more space for lockers.
Sept. 4 is Knoch’s first day of school for the 2025-26 year. Superintendent David Foley said he is hoping to give the board a final tour of the building during the last week of August to show off the newly complete building. There will also be a ribbon-cutting and open house event for the public on Sept. 2.
Highlighting the opportunities opened up by the new commons area, Foley said the school board’s July meeting will be held in the commons area, with the learning steps being used as seating for attendees.
“It’s pretty close to completion. It’ll be a good opportunity to see all the hard work and what the taxpayer dollars have gone into to make this happen,” Foley said.
