LBI Board of Education Appoints Architect of Record – The SandPaper

A majority of the Long Beach Island Consolidated Board of Education voted Feb. 26 to appoint Spiezle Architectural Group as its architect of record. The contract began March 1 and runs through June 30.

Board President Colette Southwick and Vice President Marilyn Wasilewski were joined by board members Kristy Raber, Fred Schragger, Brielle Hoffacker and William Fenimore in saying yes to the appointment. Board members Eileen Bowker and Georgene Hartmann voted against appointing an architect of record. John McMenamin, one of two Surf City representatives on the board, was absent for the second consecutive meeting.

Their first order of business will be to evaluate the Ethel Jacobsen Elementary School and the LBI Grade School at a cost of $14,900. The price tag does not include engineering services if that is required. The board unanimously approved the evaluation of the schools.

What came out of the failed referendum is that the public didnt have answers, Chris Kelly, district business administrator, said of the Dec. 10 special election in which voters in five Island communities voted down a $7.68 million referendum to renovate the LBI School in Ship Bottom. It marked the second time in less than three years that voters rejected a school project. The September 2017 project was aimed at expanding and renovating the E.J. School in Surf City.

Spiezle is charged with evaluating both schools for repairs and upgrades, she said. They will also provide data for additions to the LBI School and the E.J. School, in the event that a decision is made to merge into one building, according to Kelly. Lastly, the firm will provide information about the cost of building a new school, should that be the direction the district decides to take.

All of that information, Kelly said, will be rolled into the districts strategic plan. That plan is currently in the infancy stage as community members are working toward updating two separate reports: the state of the schools and the state of the community.

Fenimore, former school board president, said even with an eight-room addition at the E.J. School, the facilities would still be smaller than the LBI School. His comment prompted Kelly to further explain the firm is evaluating classroom space and how it can be used.

Also, she said the firm believes the state wouldnt hold the district to updating the gymnasium at the E.J. School, which was built to the specifications of a school for younger children.

In January, the district advertised a request for proposal for architectural services. It received 13 inquiries for more information; seven firms attended two site visits, and eight formal proposals were submitted, according to Kelly.

We chose one, she said during her roundup of the buildings/grounds/transportation committee meeting.

Spiezle Architectural Group is an award-winning, full-service architectural, interior design and planning firm, according to its website. It moved into its current headquarters in Hamilton, Mercer County, from Trenton, in 2017. It has offices in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The company is also currently bidding on an energy savings improvement project at multiple schools within the Little Egg Harbor School District, according to its website.

Gina G. Scala

ggscala@thesandpaper.net

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LBI Board of Education Appoints Architect of Record - The SandPaper