Braving the unseasonable cold weather, Western Wayne School District officials broke ground at the site of the new elementary school located about a mile north of Hamlin Corners on Route 191.
The new school will be the first “green” school in the region.
The school attained a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification and will utilize a geo-thermal heating and cooling system, solar and wind energy, a water conservation system and a rooftop garden.
Drilling for the school’s geo-thermal wells has been underway since mid-March.
Joe Sasso, project superintendent with Sordoni Construction, said the thermal well project should be finished by the middle of next week.
Jeanette Wemkosky and Nancy VanDeLinde, both sisters whose homestead was located on the land, said they are pleased with the new school.
“It’s wonderful. We didn’t want the land to turn into something not useful,” VanDeLinde said. “Some of my grandchildren will be able to go here,” Wemkosky said.
“It’s a long time coming,” said Ellen Faliskie, principal of Lake and Hamlin Elementary Schools. Faliskie will become the principal of the new school when construction is completed in September 2011.
“It’s going to be such a learning experience for the kids. It’s a building they can learn from,” she said.
Donald McDonough, vice president of the Western Wayne School District, said the board members are excited that the construction is coming in under cost. The original cost was approximately $20 million, but came in at roughly $18 million.
The district was awarded $1 million in February from the Energy Harvest Grant to fund the geo-thermal, wind and solar power for the school. The grant is disbursed through the state Department of Environmental Protection.
