Bath developer Thomas Kishbaugh was granted a variance April 13 by the Northampton Borough Zoning Hearing Board on his plans to convert the long-vacant 19th-century Central School building on Main Street into 12 apartments.

The approval is the first step in obtaining a permit to allow the work to begin.

Kishbaugh, who has already appeared before the planning commission with sketch plans for the project, will later return with more specific plans, after which the commission will give its recommendation to borough council for a vote.

Replying to a question from The Press, Kishbaugh said the improvements and acquisition costs for the Central building will exceed $1 million and will include a top-to-bottom remake of the building.

Kishbaugh’s plan provides 22 parking spaces for tenants. Twenty-four are required, but Kishbaugh said he believes there is ample off-street parking available for tenants, who will occupy the proposed one- and two-bedroom apartments on two floors.

Should the process proceed before the planning commission and council without any major setbacks, Kishbaugh, as Royal Development Company, LLC, could begin work on the building later this year.

“It needs a lot of work,” Kishbaugh said. “It has been vacant for years. I will not add to the building. I will utilize what’s there.”

The existing windows and doors will be replaced, and the brick exterior will be painted.

Roof and sidewalk upgrades, hardwood flooring, air conditioning and an improved heating system are also part of the plans.

Attorney Ted Lewis, counsel for Kishbaugh, said the apartments will be fitted so they are attractive to tenants wanting an upscale lifestyle.

Beth Hoffman, whose residence is near the Central building, had glowing praise for Kishbaugh’s project.

“I was impressed,” she said. “It’s in my backyard. This is the best opportunity we are going to have. I don’t want to wait another 10 years.”

Another resident expressed reservations about snow removal in the area and wondered where tenants would park during a major snowfall.

The variances granted include setbacks, parking stalls and aisle standards, regulations concerning off-street parking.

Built in 1885, the brick structure first was Allen Township High School. The borough was a compilation of villages - Stemton, Newport and Siegfried - and became a borough in 1902. There were four students in the first graduating class and one teacher.

For reasons unknown, it was later called the Brooklyn School. And in 1910, the high school moved to Lincoln Avenue. The old building on Main Street housed elementary school children for years.

The property during World War II was a drop-off site for metals, food cans and materials for the war effort.

In the late 1940s and into the 1950s, it was a teenage center.

When the high school on Laubach Avenue underwent renovations in the 1980s, the 10th-grade class attended the Central School building.

Kishbaugh said a plaque will be placed on the building to note its history.