Contract to Replace BTHS Bleachers Awarded

The Board of Education awarded a bid to a Roselle Park company at its meeting Tuesday night to replace the bleachers at Brick Township High School.

At an otherwise quiet board meeting, the $625,200 bid award to Landsite Construction Company will ensure that the long-wished-for project will come to fruition this summer.

The bleachers are in bad shape, school officials have said, and portions are off limits to spectators due to safety concerns. At large events, such as rivalry football games and graduation ceremonies, extra bleachers are sometimes brought in to accommodate extra people.

School board members had hoped the project could be completed before this year's graduation ceremony, but some delays were experienced in ensuring the new bleachers would be compliant with the American With Disabilities Act, Campbell said. There was also the risk that the project wouldn't be completed by graduation time, meaning Old Brick's graduates would be forced to head to Mustang turf for their ceremony.

The board had set aside $860,000 for the bleacher project.

"It will be a busy summer around here," said board member Walter Campbell, who has been spearheading numerous facilities projects.

The board also approved setting aside funding for the replacement of the vestibules at Midstreams Elementary School and Emma Havens Young Elementary School at a cost of $217,873 for both.

The board also voted to put $225,000 toward improvements to the offices at the Transportation Department.