Local news

Groundbreaking held for new Liberty-Curtin Elementary School

BLANCHARD -- The long-awaited groundbreaking on the new Liberty Curtin Elementary School has finally arrived.

Whipping winds and chilly temperatures couldn't stop students, faculty and staff along with Keystone Central School District Board of Directors representatives from tossing the ceremonial dirt that marked the beginning of a new facility for the little school in Blanchard.

Liberty-Curtin was given an "end of life" estimate of 2025-26, with 90 percent of the building needing to be replaced. The current building, constructed in 1966, has faced numerous issues including shingles falling off the roof, becoming detached due to rotting wood, an aging HVAC system and water damage.

Keystone Central School District Superintendent Dr. Jacquelyn Martin and Liberty-Curtin Principal Brett Umbenhouer welcomed the students into the parking lot for the groundbreaking, encouraging them to hold the shovels and get in on the action.

The reasoning behind the board's choice to construct new, rather than renovate, was hinged on the fact there was nowhere for students to go temporarily while renovations took place. The new building will be built on the same lot, but will not affect instruction.

"I'm excited for the community to be able to keep their small community school," said Martin. "This (school) is as much of an outlier as our Renovo Elementary. As a girl who grew up in Sugar Valley and saw her school consolidated, I'm so excited for the families in this part of our district to keep our small community school."

Randy Zangara, assistant superintendent, was similarly enthusiastic about the new school.

"I'm very fortunate to be following a great leader who has done so much work to make not only the transition easy, but also done so much to get the community and the school district excited and moving in the right direction. I'm very privileged and honored to be here," said Zangara.

A current fourth grade teacher at the school, Prella Smith, is an alum of Liberty-Curtin. She was proudly in the kindergarten class of 1989, and stayed at the school until sixth grade.

"It's really cool. Not only am I getting to see the transition from the old school to the new school, but also my son is in kindergarten. He's going to be able to experience what I had here with the old school, and also experience and have memories with the new school," said Smith.

As a teacher, she brings many fond memories and traditions into her teaching, passing along an enthusiasm for learning that she herself received in school.

"The teachers that were here were a huge inspiration for me. To come back and watch it stay and grow, and the community's support for it still being here is awesome," said Smith.

One of the people Smith credits with inspiring her to be a teacher is Wes Burrows -- who many know from his time at the school.

Burrows often brought the environment into the classroom, creating an enthusiasm for nature and making learning fun. Currently hanging in Smith’s classroom is a taxidermy deer that once hung in Burrows' class.

"(Burrows) was one of the reasons I became a teacher along with many of the other ones at that time. I remember some of the neat things they did with us -- a lot of it was with the environment and the natural places around you. This community has a lot of hunting and fishing, and we have the beauty of our land all around us. It was neat to see a piece of why I became a teacher hanging up on the wall as a reminder," said Smith.

Smith is enthusiastic about the new school, and plans to bring many traditions with her when teaching there.

"Everything that I can take with me I will. We're going to continue those traditions that LC is known for. We'll have more opportunities to be able to do more of the fun things we already do here, at the new school. I think there's going to be some amazing new traditions that will grow with this as well. You can't take the area out of Liberty Curtin -- we're here, this is a family, this is home," said Smith.

The estimated cost of building construction and site development is between $18.2 million and $20.7 million.

During a board meeting in early December, Martin said the facilities committee authorized the district's bond council to secure the first of two $9.9 million bonds for the project.

Martin and Business Manager Joni MacIntyre met with the bond council and were able to lock in an interest rate between 3.5 percent and 4.375 percent -- with the interest rate cost projected to be $716,000 lower than previously projected.

The board also approved three construction bids in November 2023, including:

-- Lobar, Inc., of Dillsburg, Pa., for $13,211,600 for general construction of the new Liberty Curtin building.

-- Hosler Corp., of Berwick, Pa., for $2,898,300 for mechanical construction of the building.

-- Hallstrome-Clark Electric, Inc., of Dubois, Pa., for $2,670,700 for electrical construction of the building.

It voted down accepting the lone bid for its plumbing construction for $3,790,000 from Wayne Crouse, Inc. of Pittsburgh, as the bid would have pushed the cost of the project 12 percent over the overall project budget.

The costs would be paid for using a combination of two series of long-term financing combined with cash from the General Fund Balance 10.

The design of the school itself was discussed in a previous meeting, with a detailed 3D rendered model of the school.

The architect, Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, took inspiration from surrounding homes and barns for the design of the school -- forming gable entryways and modernizing the build while also keeping within budget.

The one-story design of the building included the basic needs -- ADA compliance, a multipurpose gymnasium, multiple classrooms with both single-teacher use and multi-teacher use, a library, a STEM area and more.

The design also featured "collaborative areas" where students can study, host presentations or wait for parent pick-up at the end of the day. It will also have numerous windows to limit bullying, as well as an "open style" bathroom. With this bathroom, the girls and boys sides are still separate but they will share a sink by the door/entryway, allowing faculty to keep eyes on the students at all times.

Another clever design feature is to have cubbies outside of the classroom, freeing up wall space within the classroom and creating extra room.

There were two Centre County Commissioners in attendance at the groundbreaking as well, Chair Mark Higgins and Commissioner Amber Concepcion.

"It's just really exciting to see the school district moving forward with this process," said Concepcion, "It's an investment in our next generation of kids in this area."

"It's great to see the cross-county district here working to keep things great in both Clinton and Centre Counties," said Higgins.

The district's timeline sees Liberty Curtin's construction being completed before the start of the 2025-2026 school year.