Two long-awaited Palmerton Area School District projects are all systems go after directors approved contracts Tuesday night totaling $1.4 million for a safety and security project at S.S. Palmer and just over $630,000 for renovations to the weight room and wrestling room.

Palmer project

The Palmer project calls for a transformation of the appearance of the building’s front entrance and enhance security.

Proposed changes include relocating the school’s office suite from the second level to the ground floor. Additionally, the large existing staircase that currently greets visitors upon entry will be removed. The renovation plans feature a secure vestibule at the entrance and an ADA accessible ramp will also be added to the front entrance.

“This project was estimated at $1.8 million back in 2019-20 before COVID hit and stalled everything,” director Earl Paules said. “Then we were going to go with the McClure Company for an energy savings project, the estimate jumped to $2.4 million. We still need to do the electrical contract and the roof, but even with those, I think we’ll come in under $2 million in 2024. I think that’s a good day for the taxpayer. Lots of people bid and that created competition.”

The S.S. Palmer contracts approved Tuesday include:

• $782,015 for general construction to RC Construction Associates Inc. of Nazareth.

• $413,000 for HVAC construction and $53,000 for plumbing construction to JBM Mechanical Inc. of Nazareth.

• $164,500 for the ADA access ramp project to LB Construction Enterprises of Spring House.

• $28,500 to Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates for the design, bidding, and construction administration.

According to project bid documents, the old office area will be converted into small group instruction, faculty and learning support rooms.

“It’s really good news to hear we’re going to save that building and it’s going to come in cheaper than expected,” district resident Constance Banko told the board after the vote.

Weight room

The district also stands to see savings on its weight and wrestling room renovations after initial bids were rejected in September due to what directors at the time said were “skyrocketing costs.”

The renovation will include a team locker room for wrestling and separate boys and girls shower facilities, among other improvements.

“The first time we bid this, it came in at close to $785,000,” Paules said. “We flipped things from one end of the building to the other, removed some walls, opened up some doorways, we now have two ADA accessible bathrooms and we’re going to get it done for less than $650,000. There was a lot of interest in this job too, which drove the price down.”

The contracts approved Tuesday include:

• $342,031 to NorthEast Construction Management Group of Lehighton for general construction.

• $224,000 to KC Mechanical Inc. of Mount Bethel for plumbing construction.

• $58,000 to West Side Hammer Electric of Bethlehem for electrical construction.

• A cost not to exceed $8,558 to NorthEast Construction Management Group of Lehighton for a weight room equipment relocation agreement, and

• $9,269.81 to RJ Walker of Lehighton for a water heater.

Paules said that of the roughly $640,000, the district will use $120,000 in funds from its contract with St. Luke’s University Health Network and $46,000 in leftover insurance money from a vehicle crash at its Seventh Street property which damaged a field house in 2021.