Municipal Government Center Dwarfed by School District Building Plans

Anyone concerned with the recommended new government center proposal at Nazareth Hall Park ought to take a close look at the Nazareth Area School District's $50 million building plans (it will require borrowing $26M more, a 2.4 mill increase, than the $24M already borrowed. The district's current maximum allowable to borrow is $29M).

View the full nearly 50 slide deck in PDF format here.

Here is the new "campus" map:

Pardon the image size/resolution, as I had to convert it from the PDF, but in short, here is what is going to happen:

1. Current HS Library (known today as a media center) is being converted into classrooms.
2. The new Media Center will be moved to the current HS Gymnasium.
3. The new Gymnasium will be located in a new athletics building adjacent to the "old middle school" that now houses the admin on the main floor and classrooms on the top floor for the HS.
4. The football stadium will be renovated.
5. A new all-weather track will be added where the fields along Friedenstahl Avenue, along with three soccer/field hockey fields, and two softball fields.
6. The current Middle School will be converted to an Intermediate School.
7. The Middle School will be moved into a new Building off Mitchell Avenue where the parkling lot now exists.
8. The current field hockey/soccer field will be turned into a parking lot.
9. Outside this map, the Maintenance Facility is currently under construction behind the current MS, soon to be intermediate school, and parking expansion is taking place at Lower Nazareth Elementary.

Based on my quick review of the PDF document, the cost seems to be buildings only. Not additional staff, faculty, maintenance, administration, equipment, etc.

What do you think? Is Nazareth in need of $50 million in school district building? Can it handle these increases? If we stay on property tax just how much of an impact will this have on those with a fixed income?