Harrisburg School District officials ceremonially broke ground on the Steele Elementary School project.
Harrisburg is one step closer to reopening a “state-of-the-art” school for students.
On Wednesday, Harrisburg School District officials ceremonially broke ground on the renovation of Steele Elementary School, which they plan to reopen for the 2024-25 school year.
“It feels good to get to a place where you can finally see things coming to fruition,” said Superintendent Eric Turman. “What I want the community to do at this point in time is to get excited about what this is going to look like.”
Steele School, built in the 1930s, closed in 2011 and has since sat vacant on the 2500-block of N. 5th St. In September, district Receiver Dr. Lori Suski approved a $21.6 million revitalization project and the reopening of the school, at a board meeting.
According to Turman, the district’s decision in April 2022 to move fifth-grade students from the middle schools back to the elementary school level made classrooms fuller, while many of its buildings were already near capacity.
The reopening of Steele would help solve that capacity issue, while also providing a neighborhood school in the Uptown community. Turman noted that many children currently have to walk a far distance to get to Ben Franklin Elementary School.
Steele School will have classrooms for kindergarten through fifth grade.
Steele Elementary School is currently undergoing renovations to reopen for the 2024-25 school year.
The building, which is about 68,000 square feet, has been largely gutted inside for renovations, and the exterior will receive new windows, doors and a deep clean, according to district director of operations Craig Glass.
An addition will also be constructed onto the rear of the building to house a new cafeteria and classrooms. A new playground and basketball court will be constructed as well.
The project is being funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that the district received during the pandemic.
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates is serving as the architect and Fidevia Construction Management & Consulting is the contractor for the project.
“They [the students] are going to walk in here over time, and they’re going to see a school like no other,” Turman said. “This will be a model that, hopefully, over time we can look at how can we create these types of facilities for our children, because this is what they deserve.”
Steele Elementary School is located at 2537 N. 5th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit the Harrisburg School District’s website.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
