Thousands Tour New High School
An estimated two thousand people showed up at last Saturday’s open house at the new Armstrong Junior-Senior High School.
by David Croyle
Armstrong School District officials were pleased with the first open house that was held at the Armstrong Junior-Senior High School in Manor Township last Saturday.
ASD Superintendent Stan Chapp said the public’s first look at the unfinished building was positive.
“We probably had at least two thousand people,” Chapp said. “Almost exclusively, the comments were positive. Folks are very supportive of the project.”
The building currently has its outer shell enclosed, and freshly constructed cement block walls define the hallways and rooms. Plumbing was stubbed through the floor, but no fixtures installed. Only the two gymnasiums were painted, each one done in school colors and basketball hoops installed. The wooden floor has not yet been installed.
From a second floor stairwell, you could see the detailed landscape of the Kittanning-Ford City valley including its roadways, bridges, hillsides, and the Allegheny River.
The long drive from Route 422 on Bevington Drive ended at the school with multiple parking lots that were full of vehicles in a semi-landscaped property.
Jason Myschisin from Manor Township stood outside the structure and was impressed with the size of the new building.
Jason Myschisin from Manor Township brought his family to tour the school. He was surprised by its size.
“It was impressive - there’s no doubt about it - just to see the size of everything! Seeing it from coming over the hill from a distance, it doesn’t do it justice as getting inside and seeing how big it actually is.”
Once inside the building, administrators had arranged signage promoting the new athletic complex which has been at the center of controversy. Chapp gave a glowing report of support for the complex.
“Everyone who has been coming through have been looking forward to having the athletic complex put up. They are making donations or even supporting our school board, or perhaps going that direction and funding the project themselves.”
Family-Life TV had the cameras rolling during the tour and will rebroadcast a video tour for those who were not present. The rebroadcast will be tomorrow (Tuesday) night during “Talk of the Town” beginning at 8PM.
Armstrong School District | dcroyle November 3, 2014
By sickofpayingforit, November 3, 2014 @ 1:38 PM
Skip the propaganda. Ask a legitimate referendum question that is not biased, and very clear that ALL citizens will be paying for it, renters and home-owners alike, as the renters will more than likely have their rent raised to cover the tax increase.
That will be a much better litmus test than the mood-ring style comments from people who are obviously going to be impressed with an 80 million dollar building in Armstrong County…….
This is similar to buying something new, then getting home and realizing you have to still pay for it. Let’s not employ car-sales tricks to push for football fields that the elderly/fixed income cannot afford please.
By jorn jensen, November 3, 2014 @ 10:56 PM
Excellent, sickofpayingforit. When will they catch on?
By Elderton Parent, November 4, 2014 @ 10:48 AM
Its a brand new $80 million complex - it better be impressive.
Did you notice how Chapp slides in the comment about the athletic complex?? You better believe it is going to happen - regardless of what it will cost taxpayers. They will make it sound like everyone is donating money towards the cause when in fact it will be a select few that will donate and they will play with the numbers to find the money from the taxpayers. You watch and see, when it comes time to start practices (especially for football) the fields will magically appear. With minimal knowledge of the taxpayers. Stock up on the vasoline.