According to the article the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission noted that some artifacts from previous studies point to early man's use of the land adjacent to the Schoeneck Creek and therefore further study is required before construction can begin.
The Phase III study will cover about 1,000 square feet of the 25-acre site and consists of digging holes, sifting through the dirt and analyzing anything of interest.This study could cost up to $113,500 and will delay the project several weeks. Now bids will be distributed July 18 and returned by August 16.
5 comments:
Excellent. Finally, someone is realizing that we need to consider the Nazareth area not only as a historic area, but a prehistoric area as well. It's a shame that it will delay the school, but worth every second and every penny.
$113,000 to study the soils encompassing an area equivalent to half a football field...I detect the start of the price gouging at the expense of the taxpayers has officially begun. Don't get me wrong jwisser, I agree our history is worth studying, but come on, $113/per square foot to sift for artifacts.
Here comes the start of the dreaded change orders and unforeseen cost overruns...stay tuned to your local board meeting minutes for more overruns.
Increased cost and delay in the schedule and we haven't even received a bid yet.
Having to restructure the bid submission schedule most likely shortened the window companies will have to get the packages together (one month or close to it) and this could pose some problems or it could result in a reduced number of bids (also not good for us).
If they find anything on this site then the costs really go up or the site could be scrapped altogether.
When I returned from vacation yesterday, I passed by the new MS site and saw what looked like site activity. I thought to myself that site prep must have started. And then I read this.....Ugh.
So the school will be delayed. No surprise there (the original schedule was more than optimistic).
I now wonder what the timetable for move-in is. I would think that Aug 2009 is out of the question now. So when will kids occupy the new school? And if that's in the middle of the school year, how will that be accomplished?
A move-in during the middle of the school year will be very difficult if not impossible. All those teachers moving and getting their "new" classrooms ready. The 4th and 5th grade kids who were in elementary on Friday now will be at the "old" MS on Monday? Not likely. I can't see anybody occupying the new MS until 2010.
Meanwhile, project costs continue to rise and debt expenditures increasing. The beat goes on.....
Mr. Wright used to teach history in the old middle school. He used to bring his collection of local indian artefacts into the classroom. He taught us about the Native Americans that lived in and around Nazareth. He would point to the East Lawn and teach us with passion about the large village of Welagamika that stretched from 84 Lumber all the way to Gracedale. He inspired me to research the Moravian archives and launched me on a life long hobby of collecting artefacts. I think it is a wonderful chance to maybe inspire a few other students to take a greater interest in history, prehistory and archeology. Nazareth is so rich in prehistoric history dating back nearly 10,000 years or more. I hope that more salvage work will be applied to the many housing developments that now threaten hundreds of ancient sites.
11:12 AM
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