Work On Expanded & Renovated Ben Franklin School Building Progressing

Construction to rebuild the Ben Franklin School building into the Bristol Township School District’s newest middle school is moving along.

The project to completely overhaul, revamp, and expand the building along Mill Creek Road began last year and is moving closer to completion.

The district is in the middle of the $53.9 million project to renovate and expand the building. The work includes a 38,000-square-foot addition, making the entire school more than 156,000 square feet when completed. The project also includes connecting the site to the neighboring Mill Creek Elementary School property and improving athletic fields behind the school.

As of last week, window replacement was 50 percent complete; mechanical, electrical and plumbing work is 90 percent complete; second-floor drywall installation is 75 percent complete at the building that has previously served as a school and administration building, according to Mark Hitchcock, of Schrader Group Architecture.

The building renovation work is taking place, and the expansion work is also underway, said Damion Spahr, of design and construction firm SiteLogic.

Of the additions, exterior brickwork is 65 percent; mechanical, electrical and plumbing work is 50 percent complete; the roof is nearly complete; and interior metal stud framing is 90 percent complete.

Construction crews had hoped to complete the bulk of the work by October 21, but a delay in roofing work has put them “slightly” behind, according to officials.

“A lot of that time is expected to be made up,” Spahr said.

He also said delays and procurement issues for the electrical system could cause more details.

The district plans to close the aging Franklin D. Roosevelt Middle School off Veterans Highway before winter break this year. That school’s teachers and students will move to the Ben Franklin building at the start of 2023.

In anticipation of the move, the district recently announced redistricting plans for the elementary and middle schools.

Neil A. Armstrong Middle School on Wistar Road will have 672 students and FDR and then Franklin will have 754 students at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

The new middle school project is being funded through a bond issue.

Over the past decade, the Bristol Township School District has closed nine elementary schools and consolidated to three new buildings. Their plan called for improvements and updates, including the closure of the Roosevelt building, at the middle school level. Work on the high school could be an upcoming focus. The district moved their administration and bus depot to the former Clara Barton Elementary School building next to Harry S. Truman High School in 2019.

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