Cheltenham SD outlines timelines, cost changes for Glenside and Cedarbrook additions and high school work

Mister Snyder, a district staff member presenting construction updates, told the facilities committee the high school partial-roof replacement is scheduled to begin June 23 with anticipated completion Aug. 17, and that the contractor will use part of the parking lot through the summer.

Snyder said demolition and mobilization for athletic stadium work are starting this week and that more on-site activity is expected in coming days. On the Glenside Elementary addition, he said the district has completed the township land-development steps and is tracking required approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the conservation district, with an anticipated plan-and-permit completion in October 2025, a planned bid date in November 2025 and a projected construction start in summer 2025. "The original budget for this project was $14,000,000," Snyder said; the construction manager’s updated estimate for the reduced scope is about $7,600,000, including roughly $5,800,000 in hard construction costs and additional soft costs. He noted the estimate excludes potential costs tied to new or changing federal regulations.

On Cedarbrook, Snyder said the project is still in township approval and anticipates planning commission and board-of-commissioners steps in July; plan-and-permit completion is targeted for November 2025, a bid date in December 2025 and construction start in summer 2026. He said the original strategic-plan budget was $19,800,000 and that the revised scope with added classrooms brings the new estimate to $22,800,000. Snyder said the timing of both projects would coincide with when the district would need to issue a bond and that the district will engage external professionals to assist with that process.

Committee members asked whether the cost estimates account for inflation between the estimate and the eventual bid; Snyder said the Glenside estimate is only about six months from the anticipated bid price. Members also clarified that the track renovation at Cedarbrook is a separate project with a separate budget (Snyder referenced an estimated $400,000 figure for rescraping the track but asked that the number not be quoted at face value). The construction updates were presented as time lines and cost estimates; the transcript does not show formal project approvals or bond authorization by the committee during this meeting.