As Bethlehem Area School District officials evaluate their options for renovating or rebuilding Fountain Hill Elementary School, they are aware that their options are somewhat limited.
That’s what borough representative to the Bethlehem Area School District Winston Alozie told the members of Fountain Hill Borough Council at their meeting Tuesday night.
Alozie said one option is to house FHES students in temporary classrooms on the athletic field at Broughal Middle School, which would have the drawback of making the field off limits to students and others for an extended period of time. Another option to use the former St. Ursula’s School in Fountain Hill is less than desirable due to the vacant Catholic school’s small size, he told council.
Regardless of where current students are ultimately temporarily housed, the thinking is that the school may have to be completely demolished and rebuilt in its current location, Alozie said.
Part of the current Fountain Hill Elementary School building was once Fountain Hill High School. That building was constructed in the late 1930s and became the property of the BASD when it absorbed the former Fountain Hill School District in the mid 1960s. The BASD subsequently expanded and renovated the building during the 1970s, according to an “open concept” of learning.
That concept advocated for fewer walls between classrooms and was considered innovative at the time, but fell from favor due to security and other concerns. Several of the district’s elementary schools that are slated to be renovated or rebuilt in the next few years–including Fountain Hill, Thomas Jefferson and William Penn–still have open concept floor plans from nearly 50 years ago.
Alozie said he hopes to attend more borough council meetings in the future, in order to report back on the progress that is being made with the plans for the new Fountain Hill Elementary School.
He added that he welcomes feedback from council during this time, and stressed that many possibilities remain on the table at this stage in the process, as no final decisions have yet been made.
Fountain Hill Elementary School is located at 1330 Church St. in Fountain Hill. The school will host a community yard sale this Saturday, June 24.
Fountain Hill Elementary School is one of 16 elementary schools in the Bethlehem Area School District. The school building was originally the borough’s high school. After the Fountain Hill School District was consolidated with BASD in the 1960s, it became an elementary school featuring an open concept floor plan that was considered innovative at the time. (FILE PHOTO)
