Thursday, November 6, 2014

Lancaster Country Day School considers $21 million construction project



Lancaster Country Day School is moving ahead with plans for what could be a $21 million construction project that would demolish and then rebuild one wing of its campus.


The project could also relocate the lower and middle schools and reorient the main entrance of the private, college preparatory school at 725 Hamilton Road.

On Wednesday, Steve Lisk, Head of School, declined to give details about the project's timeline and scope, saying it is still in flux.

"It is not set in stone because the stone won't exist if the fundraising component doesn't come together to support it," Lisk said.

He said the school would submit more detailed plans in January to Manheim Township's zoning hearing board.

In the meantime, the school is seeking up to $15 million in financing for the project from the Lancaster Industrial Development Authority, which will hold a public hearing on the request at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 19, at City Hall, 120 N. Duke St.

If financing from LIDA is approved, the school would be eligible for what is essentially a tax-free loan.

A legal notice for the LIDA hearing described some of the project's scope and pegged its cost at $21 million. The notice, which ran Wednesday in LNP, said the demolition would be of the current lower school building and science wing, with a new building constructed in its place.

Lisk said the school's own fundraising for the project was "in process," declining to say how much has been raised or how much would need to be raised before construction could begin.

He indicated, though, that while the project would enlarge the footprint of the school's 155,000-square-foot building, it is not meant as a major expansion.

"We are a school of 625 (students) and we like our number," Lisk said.

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