Even as Northampton Area School District Board of Education formally closed the chapter on one project, it learned it will have the funds to begin other projects.

The Northampton Area Middle School and Secondary Campus Renovation Project came in $5.1 million under budget, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik told school directors Nov. 7 in a presentation at the first board meeting of the month.

The district set the project cost at $80,720,752, borrowed $80,290,147 with the actual project cost at $75,210,124, a savings of $5,080,023.

“We came in under budget almost $5.1 million,” Kovalchik said. “We now can use those funds throughout the district.”

The 2.35 mills-per-year cost for the project four years ago was reduced to 1.45 mills per year.

“It’s a night of celebration as we conclude our middle school project,” Kovalchik told school directors, administrators and the audience.

“About 25 years ago is when we started this conversation about building a middle school.

“I was a young man, and I served on that committee to discuss the middle school. That was in 1991,” Kovalchik said.

NASD school board President David Gogel, a 13-year board member, concurred. Attending the meeting were Jay Clough, principal, KCBA Architects; Christopher W. Haller, project engineer, D’Huy Engineering Inc.; Robert J. Yanders, NASD director of operations; and Terry Leh, NASD business administrator.

“It’s quite amazing when we went back there, comparing to where we are now,” Kovalchik said, lauding former school board members who facilitated the middle school project, including Jennifer Miller, Jane Erdo, Bobby Koch, Jean Rundle and Maggie Kemp.

“I have to single out my ‘brother,’ Bob Yanders; Mr. Leh, for the finances; and thanks to Chris from D’Huy Engineering. The board was very fortunate to choose KCBA with Jay. They’ve done a phenomenal job with that site and that building. Jon Swartley, Penn Builders, they kind of held the contractors together,” Kovalchik said, lauding “a team of people, the staff and community.”

The PowerPoint presentation, beginning with side-by-side photos of front entrances of the old middle school and new middle school, included a timeline: January 2010, planning; February 2012, hiring of KCBA; April 2013, groundbreaking; March 2013-September 2015, construction and middle school opening.

“The Borough of Northampton had a huge role to get the additional acreage,” Kovalchik said.

Gogel noted the role played by the sale of the Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School satellite campus.

The middle school is 270,000 square feet, compared to the old school’s 100,000 square feet. There are 65 classrooms, nine science labs, a TV studio classroom, a cafeteria seating 500, a gymnasium seating 1,338 and a natatorium seating 283 (compared to 180 at the old pool).

Kovalchik noted the heritage of the site, exemplified by murals depicting cement industry milestones with the input of retired district teacher and historian Ed Pany. Atlas Cement Company donated land during the 1950s, which became the site of the new middle school.

The campus features include new traffic patterns, including a bus loop with parking for 50 buses during school hours and 200 vehicles after-hours and an all-purpose field. New marques at the middle school and Northampton Area High School and a softball field along Laubach Avenue are in the offing.

“This building has transformed the district in many ways. It relieved the overcrowding at the elementary schools,” Kovalchik said.

Sixth grade was added to the middle school.

“From a community standpoint, anyone has the opportunity to use this facility,” Kovalchik said.