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Schools

Bensalem High Gym Floor Repair Estimated at $250K; Replacement $460K

Business manager optimistic insurance will cover repair.

August storms caused about $250,000 in damage to the new floor at the still-unopened gym.

And it would cost almost twice that much, $460,000, should the district decided to replace the 27,000-square-foot maple floor rather than repair it.

That was the word Tuesday night from school board member Ralph Douglass, who provided a report from the facilities committee to his colleagues on the state of the new gym/community center.

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District business manager Jack Myers said after the meeting that he is optimistic the district's insurance company will cover the full cost of the repair.

“The insurance company acknowledges it's a covered loss and we're still negotiating,” he said.

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Douglass explained the district must decide whether to repair a section of the damaged floor and refinish the entire floor or replace the whole thing. While it seems doubtful the district would install an entirely new floor, the reason that option is on the table is that, in theory, refinishing could take away ten years of usage.

“It's considered a 60-year floor and you're supposed to sand it every ten years,” Myers explained.

Douglass and Myers said the district is still hoping to have the gym ready for the first home game of the Fighting Owls basketball team in mid-November. But in addition to getting the floor back in shape, district contractors need to repair dry wall damaged by the storms and finish hooking up long-delayed heating/ventilation/air conditioning equipment.

“The contractors are arguing among themselves but they're still working on the HVAC,” said Myers.

Ground was broken for the 45,000-square-foot facility in July 2009 and district officials were planning a grand opening this summer. But HVAC equipment arrived more than seven months late from Jordan, according to district officials.

Then “lots of water” got into the building last month, damaging the basketball court and the lobby, according to Myers. Some of the water, he has said, entered rooftop HVAC equipment and traveled through duct work while more came through temporary HVAC equipment that had to be installed in windows before the rooftop equipment finally arrived in late June.

As a result, the basketball team has been practicing at the Armstrong Middle School, which was closed in 2005.

The gym project has carried an estimated price tag of $15 million, with the township providing a $2 million state grant and $2 million of its own cash. The new facility features a three-court gym with seating for 1,700 and an elevated track.

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