NEW SEWICKLEY TWP. The Freedom Area School District has vaulted the initial challenge to its plan to add a primary center onto the middle school building.

District Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller said geological studies show the property between the middle school and the stadium is stable. The district had concerns because of mine subsidence problems, mostly near the high school, in the past.

We can move forward with the planning and construction phases now, Fuller said.

The primary center, for pupils in kindergarten to fourth grade, will allow the district to close Conway and Big Knob elementary schools, probably at the end of the 2014-15 school year. All Freedom Area students will then be housed on the New Sewickley Township campus.

The district is waiting for its architect to complete his drawings for the expanded middle school building. Fuller said the architects deadline is as soon as possible.

In March, the school board decided not to relocate the stadium and track to the land between the high school and the middle school, which caused some alterations to the original vision. Fuller said the primary center can still fit in the envisioned space.

Fuller said eliminating the stadium from the plan will reduce costs by $3 million, dropping the project estimate to $10 million.

The savings will likely be applied to air conditioning, electrical and efficiency needs in the high school building, according to Fuller. Those needs will be addressed after the primary center is completed.

More:

Freedom moving forward with primary center