District architects outline Green Village campus site plan, enrollment targets and PennDOT permit as critical path

Crabtree Whirlbaugh lead architect Anthony provided a schematic-design update on the Green Village campus, describing site layout, classroom counts, traffic separation for buses and parents, and the permitting steps that must precede construction.

The architects told the Chambersburg Area School District board that the project team is completing an educational program (number and type of classrooms), a geotechnical infiltration study for stormwater basins and a PennDOT highway-occupancy permit (HOP) scoping effort. Anthony said the HOP is on the project’s critical path and that the civil engineer will meet with PennDOT in September to begin traffic counts and permit discussions.

The update matters because the campus plan wraps several new buildings and will affect traffic patterns on Route 11 and Cumberland Highway, require coordination with Green Township and PennDOT, and set the timeline for later design phases and the cost-estimate and bidding process. The district’s planning documents show a target student-capacity strategy that the architects said is intended to avoid opening the facility at 100 percent occupancy.

Anthony summarized the educational-capacity assumptions the design team used: a planning student capacity of about 2,385; an absolute 100 percent-seat count of roughly 2,500; and a target operational utilization of 90 percent, which the team said yields an effective capacity near 2,291 seats. The architects said that difference between the district’s plan enrollment and the planned capacity leaves a small buffer — “about 40 students” — so the district does not begin operations at full capacity. For the K–3 building (referred to as the Green Village elementary), he said planned capacity is 480 seats (90% yield ~430); Grandview Elementary’s projected enrollment is roughly 190 students, leaving room to consolidate other students if the board chooses to redistrict.

On the site plan, the architects showed a two-entrance scheme: one driveway for buses (accessing Route 11) and separate parent drop-off access (from Cumberland Highway or Philadelphia Avenue). The team said the design separates bus and parent traffic so the vehicles do not commingle and identified dedicated bus loops, parking for staff and evening events, van drop-off zones and service drives for each school building. The campus plan places play areas adjacent to academic wings and flexible fields for physical education. Anthony also described a “black box” assembly space for the intermediate (4–5–6) building: a large, flexible performance/assembly area with retractable seating sized to accommodate about a grade level (the architects described seating and staging options and said the space would be used for multiple event types rather than a traditional auditorium).

The architects described the design schedule they expect: wrap up schematic design this fall, produce a preliminary cost estimate, move to design development and interior finishes in winter/spring, hold the Act 34 hearing (the school-construction validation hearing required under Pennsylvania procedure) in the spring to authorize a maximum building construction cost and total project cost, complete construction documents after that, and put the project to bid once the PennDOT HOP and other reviews are in place. The team said the earliest target to advertise for bids would be the end of summer 2026, contingent on the permit and cost-estimate milestones.

Board members asked about potential PennDOT requirements (traffic lights, roundabouts, widening) and whether the HOP could require changes to the sketch plan; Anthony said PennDOT traffic counts performed after school opens would determine specific requirements and that the township and county reviews could also require adjustments. The architects said they were meeting every three weeks with district administration (named participants included Mr. Bigger, Doctor Long, Mr. Woodman and others) and with specialty consultants (civil, MEP) as the design progresses.

The presentation included references to two site-tour case studies the team used as inspiration: Manheim Township Middle School (Lancaster area) and Dallas Town Intermediate School, which informed classroom clustering and flexible assembly-space concepts. The architects said some elements — stormwater basin siting, final traffic geometry and final academic-wing refinements — are awaiting geotechnical and PennDOT input.

The board did not take action at the Committee of the Whole meeting; the presentation was an informational update and the team asked for feedback and continued coordination as schematic design moves to the next phases.