School board members and other invited guests left impressed Monday night after their first walk through the construction site of Lehighton Area School District's new elementary center.

Structural steel erection is complete and concrete slabs are in place in the south and north classroom wings of the $33 million school, which is slated to open to all K-5 students for the 2018-19 school year."The plan itself is very well laid out of all of the students and the staff, and I think people will be very impressed with the final product," Board President Gloria Bowman said after the tour. "The classroom space is very adequate and it will be very comfortable for the students. There is plenty of playground space and the cafeteria has a lot of nice aesthetics to it. The view is just spectacular in the back with the mountains."Monday's tour was led by Bob Halupa, the project superintendent, and Karl Kauffman of Quandel Construction Group.Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said the building received positive reviews from those in attendance."You see things on paper, but it's always nice to get into the facilities and see what is inside," Cleaver said. "The tour gave our staff and the board a nice visual of what is to come."The 162,000-square-foot building will be set up with the K-2 primary classrooms on the north end of the building and the 3-5 elementary classrooms on the other side. Core areas will be centrally located.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.According to a project update from Quandel, crews are completing brick veneer work in the south classroom wing and main entrance area, which faces Lehighton's athletic stadium.Roofing is also complete in the classroom wings and is nearly finished in the administration area. Crews are starting roof work over the gymnasium.One of the highlights of Monday's tour for many of the attendees was the view to the southwest side of the building."A big benefit is the amount of glass we have designed into the building," Cleaver said. "We've heard over and over again about the view and it also creates a real open feel in the classrooms."Crews are working on exterior framing and brickwork from the south end of the building, nearest the high school, to the north."We're also moving some dirt at this point to get ready for the auditorium," Kauffman said.Ductwork and electrical rough ins have been installed in the south classroom wing and windows will be in place by the end of the week."By the end of October, the entire front section should be enclosed and water tight," Kauffman said.Mother Nature has played a role with larger than anticipated amounts of rain in recent weeks.It's too early to tell, however, if the weather will impact the expected final completion date of May 10, 2018."We're tracking that and we have a scheduling meeting Tuesday," Kauffman said. "If anything, it may impact it by a week or two. We do have lost weather days built into the calendar though so it's something we'll take a look at."Indian Lane from Mahoning Street has been closed as crews continue work but, according to Kauffman, it was scheduled to be repaved Tuesday and open for traffic next week.