Newfield schools’ capital project is officially underway

Newfield Central School District’s $21 million capital project is officially underway.

“Things are progressing well and off to a great start,” said Newfield CSD superintendent Eric Hartz. “We can get some testing done earlier than expected, which will help with the timeline.”

According to a newsletter, upgrades to the district’s middle/high school building will include creating a secure vestibule with a check-in window, adding a new school counseling office suite, adding air conditioning to the gymnasium, updating the student and staff bathrooms in the high school, updating the building’s public address (PA) and notification system and more.

The elementary school building’s upgrades will include increased access control of the exterior doors, updates to the PA and notification system, installation of select cross-corridor area doors and implementation of enclosed stairways.

The bus garage — which Hartz said in the past needs significant work done — will include updating the structure’s security cameras and PA system, adding bus charging stations and infrastructure, paving the bus parking area, updating the HVAC system, renovating offices and bathrooms, reconstructing steel columns and improving mezzanine access.

Hartz noted that upgrades to the bus garage, which is the “first of the larger pieces” to start the project, began on May 12 and will go through the summer.

The bus garage was built in 1976. Hartz said it has seen “much-needed” updates to its electrical system so far.

Newfield CSD received an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to purchase three electric buses. The total cost of the buses was around $200,000, and Hartz said some of the EPA funds and an additional grant helped to cover expenses for the bus garage’s electrical upgrades.

Hartz said in 2024 that the bus garage’s roof was updated in the late 2000s, but he noted that the steel structure “needs to be redone,” the doors that “go up and down” are building up rust and the steel where the buses are parked is “starting to rot.”

“There is a tight timeline on the bus garage and having it up and ready to go by Sept. 1 [of this year],” he added.

Hartz provided an update to the Newfield community on the bus garage project: “Transportation has moved out of the bus garage, and we will be parking the buses in the bottom two rows of the parking lot closest to the wooden playground. We would ask that you please do not park in that area at any time. This will continue into August.”

The unnamed road to the track and field area on the Newfield CSD campus will be shut down “within the next week or so,” Hartz said. After May 20, the track area will be under construction.

Hartz noted that construction on the track and field area will conclude by the end of the summer.

“The track and field area is getting a new resurface of the track, new fencing and a new flag pole/entrance area,” he said. “We are also totally redoing the access road to the track and the parking lot up at the track. This will include new drainage for water runoff and increased parking. We are also adding some drainage to the softball and baseball fields.”

Other site work on the school’s grounds will include reconstructing parking lots and driveways, providing stormwater improvements, improving access to the stadium and plaza and updating the basketball and tennis courts.

The entire capital project is slated to wrap up by summer 2026.

“This isn’t a really flashy project, but it’s a lot of things that need to be done for the safety of our kids,” Hartz said in 2024.

Hartz thanked the Newfield community for its patience as the district works to rebuild a safer campus.

“We are happy so far with the work starting this early, allowing for the project to progress through the summer,” he added. “We are also pleased that bids came in under what was expected, so we can get alternates in, allowing for more upgrades and safety to the district.”

Newfield Notes appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Free movie night at Newfield library on May 23

The Newfield Public Library is holding a free movie night on Friday, May 23.

The library will show Paddington in Peru, and the film begins at 6:30 p.m. Free popcorn will be available.

The library provided a description of the movie: “When Paddington discovers his beloved aunt has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the jungles of Peru to find her. Determined to solve the mystery, they soon stumble across a legendary treasure as they make their way through the rainforests of the Amazon.”

For more information, contact the library at 607-564-3594 or newfieldlibrary@gmail.com, or visit newfieldpubliclibrary.org.