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Blended Together

Falconer ‘Cornerstone’ Project Rolls On

Phases one and two the Falconer Central School 2017 Capital Construction Project are “rolling,” Superintendent Stephen Penhollow said. Pictured are pictures and blueprints of the ongoing project hanging in Penhollow’s office. P-J photos by Jordan W. Patterson

FALCONER – Despite delays, the $22.9 million Falconer capital project is “rolling on.”

Stephen Penhollow, Falconer Central School District superintendent, said phase one and two of the project are on schedule and is hopeful the project will be finished by August ahead of the sports season and the start of classes. A large component of the project encompasses the sports complex that’s connected to the middle and high school and Fenner Elementary School.

“Everything that we have in place I think is something that’s going to be a cornerstone in our community for years to come,” Penhollow told The Post-Journal following Tuesday’s board of education meeting.

The project’s architecture firm is Young & Wright Architectural.The district has also utilized $100,000 capital outlay projects to update areas of Temple Elementary School and the middle and high school in recent years.

“For the summer of 2019, one of the main focuses is the outdoor all-weather complex,” Penhollow said.

The outdoor-friendly complex includes an 8-lane all-weather track, an all-weather and all-purpose athletic field, baseball and softball nets for batting practice, a new score board, new lights and new bleachers. The all-weather field will support both the football and soccer programs at Falconer.

Penhollow said within two weeks the outside complex will “look very different” than it does currently.

The work over the summer combined phase one and two because of approval delays within the state Education Department.

“What you’re seeing is phase one and phase two combined. They’ve really kind of blended together which is really kind of that balancing act that our board committee and our architect has tried to do,” Penhollow said.

Penhollow said the updated athletic area will not only benefit the district’s sports programs, but in fact all of Falconer’s students.

“As far as our wellness policy and getting our kids out there walking around the track, they do a ton of that in the spring, fall and summer,” he said.

Phase two of the capital project also includes the upgraded and secure entrance at the middle and high school. The entrance will resemble the entryway that was in place in the 1970s and 1980s that was replaced in the 1990s.

“That’s going to be really amazing,” Penhollow said.

At Temple, a new PA system, a secure entryway, an updated computer lab and roofing renovations are all included in the 2017 project. At Fenner, in addition to an updated PA and fire alarm systems, the parking lot will be reworked to update its pick-up and drop-off points this summer.

In 2020, the middle and high school cafeteria will be updated to resemble a college atmosphere with a mezzanine area.

“Our cafeteria is where, probably, three quarters of our groups meet … so we wanted to make this a cornerstone for our community to use,” he said.

Penhollow said the district’s website and Facebook page will continue to update the community on the progress of the project.

In other news, the board approved the placements of five tenured employees at Tuesday’s meeting. The employees appointed to a tenured position included Cherise Penhollow, elementary tenure area; Matthew Fredrick, elementary tenure area; Andrea Gunnell, English Language Arts tenure area; Tara Swan, school counselor tenure area; and Susan Kilburn, home economics tenure area.

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