Montour High School - Campus Renovations

Campus Renovations

In 2006, Montour School District officials announced a plan to remodel the buildings of the existing high school campus and preparation for construction officially began in January 2008. However, financial issues had brought the project to a temporary halt and parts of the building, including one of the tunnels, half of the 11/12 building including the library and the auditorium and band room in the 9/10 building were sealed off from student access, rendering them unusable since the 2007-08 school year.

In 2007, the board approved approved the project at a cost of $49 million. However, in May 2008, months after preparation had begun, bids for construction came in somewhere from $5 million over budget. Conflict ensued between PJ Dick, the construction manager, and Graves & McLean, the architect. By early 2009, those two firms had been replaced by Burns & Scalo and Apostolou & Associates, respectively. On July 16, 2009 Apostolou & Associates held a presentation that revealed construction plans, that would, among other changes, connect the 9th/10th and 11th/12th grade buildings and include a new free-standing administration building. A memorandum released by Apostolou & Associates laid out a timeline that scheduled groundbreaking in May, 2010 and completion in September 2011.

As the proposed January 2010 groundbreaking date neared, however, school officials had received new information that essentially deemed it unsafe for students to be present during the renovation. As a result, acting Superintendent Dr. Boyer proposed closing the campus for the 2010-11 school year and completing the renovation in time for the 2011-2012 school year. Ultimately this plan was approved by the school board. Consequently, Montour High School was relocated to the grounds of David E. Williams Middle School for the 2010-11 school year. The scheduled 14-month renovation of the Hilltop campus began in June 2010. The high school renovation was completed in September 2011 in time for the 2011-12 school year.

Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium, home of the football, soccer and track & field teams, was renovated during the Summer of 2009. FieldTurf was installed to replace the natural grass field and a new surface was installed on the six-lane track. Also replaced were the partially wooden bleachers and one-story press box; in their places are new aluminum bleachers and a new two-story press box. While the academic buildings were closed for the 2010-11 school year, Birko Stadium was available for use. the school is currently Finished and is One of the most high-tech schools in the Pittsburgh Area. The Athletic Building is currently Under Renovation check YouTube Videos by going on to http://www.montourschools.com and clicking on their YouTube page.