Devine School Construction Site Being Prepared

Macungie Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement that will prepare the way for construction of the Devine School on Lumber Street.

The Devine School currently occupies a new building in Lower Macungie and at 1255 S. Cedar Crest Blvd., across from Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, where its lease will soon expire, said Macungie Borough Manager Chris Boehm.

The hope is that construction will move along at a pace that will allow the school in the borough to open in August 2013, she said.

Plans have taken several forms over the past months. Changes have been made to walkways, parking spaces, the configuration of Lumber Street and remaining oddly shaped parcels of land. Final plans seem to be within reach, according to council discussions over the past few months, and some parts have been finalized.

The school, headed by Christine and Joe Devine, will contribute about half of the money required to straighten and pave Lumber Street itself, but even so it will take time for the borough to put together all the money for its construction, Boehm said.

Some of it will be in the 2013 budget, and the latest it will be completed is 2014, she said.

In the next few days, work will begin on grading the area that once was home to Shelly's Lumber and before that, the historic Singmaster Lumber Yard.

No permits are required for the preliminary work, which will include grading and tree and grub removal, according to William Erdman, Macungie's engineer.

The borough will obtain the necessary permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Boehm said, and after that the Devines will be able to apply for a building permit from the borough.