The newest addition to the Lehighton Area School District's main campus is starting to take shape.

Steel is being erected in the kitchen, cafeteria and loading dock area, as well as the third- through fifth-grade wing of a $33 million elementary center scheduled to open for the 2018-19 school year."That is the first step, followed by the core areas such as the administrative offices and then lastly the kindergarten through second-grade wing," said Karl Kaufmann of Quandel Construction Group, the construction management firm working for the district. "Steel will start going up in that core area around April 24. All of the steel should be erected by the middle of May."Located adjacent to Lehighton Area High School, the school will take the place of the district's four current elementary schools: Franklin, Shull-David, East Penn and Mahoning.The 162,000-square-foot building will be set up with the K-2 primary classrooms on one end of the building and the 3-5 elementary classrooms on the other side. Core areas will be centrally located."There are a lot of people on site right now with the weather getting better," Kaufmann said. "We actually saw dust on Monday, which is a good sign because it means things are drying out and we can really move forward."The contracts approved included Lobar Inc., general contractor, $23,448,900; JBM Mechanical, mechanical contract, $3,897,000; Jay R. Reynolds, plumbing contract, $1,692,700; and Phillips Brothers, electrical contract, $4,009,200.Franklin Elementary leaseWith the closure of Lehighton's four existing elementary schools, the district is looking toward the future use of those buildings.Monday night, Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said they are inching closer to an agreement that would see the district lease Franklin Elementary to the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 for $90,000 per year."It would be a complete lease, meaning the IU would be responsible for all maintenance and repairs," Cleaver said. "Right now we are looking at a 10-year lease."Cleaver said it gives Lehighton students who attend IU programs an advantage because Franklin would become the IU's main headquarters in Carbon County.Use of facility requests for the upper track area behind the school would still go through the district.The IU may also contract with the district's food service provider, the Nutrition Group, which would see a financial benefit for Lehighton."That reimbursement for free and reduced lunches would come right back into our district," Cleaver said.