It could cost more than $25 million to demolish Norwin stadium and design and build its replacement, an architect told school officials Monday.
The stadium's concrete grandstand would be replaced with aluminum bleachers, a new press box, expanded restrooms and new turf.
It will cost about $21.8 million for the demolition and construction work at the stadium, plus another $3.8 million in architectural fees and various engineering costs, said Daniel Engen, president of DRAW Collective, a Mt. Lebanon architectural firm that presented the board with a design for the project.
The work would include new grandstands, an elevator from field level to the press box, fencing around the field widening sidewalks and making the visitors side of the field more accessible with a driveway and replacing a cluster of maintenance buildings with a new structure, , Engen said.
The high cost of the stadium project, which were initially pegged at about $15 million, prompted two board members -- Raymond Kocak and Shawna Ilagan -- to announce their opposition prior to an anticipated vote at the Nov. 18 meeting on whether to move forward with the plans for the project.
"This is going to be white elephant," Kocak said.
"I think it is highly irresponsible for the taxpayers," Ilagan said. "It guarantees a maximum tax increase for multiple years to come."
Board President Matt Thomas said that the board has the borrowing power and the stadium improvements will paid dividends for the children and community for decades to come.
None of the board members were against razing the concrete grandstands, which studies have shown is deteriorating. Engen said a big component of the project is safety.
"The concrete bleacher that is disintegrating before your own eyes," Engen said.
Opponents homed in on the part of the project that shows a multi-purpose three-tier press box with twice the space than the current configuration. The proposed design contains space for a conference area, student activities or a public event. There will be an interior elevator for access to upper levels.
Director Christine Baverso said she believes that area can serve as a meeting space for community groups, so they do not need to use the school afterhours.
At the field level underneath the bleachers, there will be space for the athletes to get into condition, a storage area, batting cages that could be raised when not in use and wrestling mats.
Engen had previously told the board that the current field turf, with all of the use it gets, will be beyond its shelf life in two years.
If the project proceeds on schedule, the work would begin in November 2025, once the football season is finished. The project would require Norwin's football team to find a different home for the 2026 season. Teams using the track and field for spring 2026 also would be displaced.
Auditorium would cost nearly $8M
Norwin also had the architect design a proposed renovation of the 750-seat high school auditorium, the stage for the district's performing arts, which will cost about $7.7 million, Engen said.
The stage would be refinished and a new ceiling would install to improve the acoustics and the movable walls also would receive a treatment for the same purpose. A large group instruction area, which would double as a classroom, would be carved out in the rear of the auditorium. The sloping floor leading to the stage would be replaced with tiered levels with steps, handrails and new lighting.