LOWER ALSACE TWP., Pa. – Construction is underway for the future Stony Creek Elementary School in Lower Alsace Township.
“It began several weeks ago,” said superintendent of Antietam School District, Tim Matlack. “They did all the digging out of the foundation, you know, getting footers in. At the end of last week to now, they’ve been putting up steel.”
As a way to celebrate the construction, the district decided to do a steel signing ceremony. The beam everyone signed will be part of the bones of the new building.
“By having the steel signing, it’s an opportunity for everybody that was involved in making this happen to have something permanent that is a part of that building forever,” Matlack explained.
He tells WFMZ the building will be designed to weather potential flood-related issues.
“The hope is that if things stay on good timeline, that we’d be able to start the ’27-’28 school year for those students here in the new building,” said Matlack.
He says the district’s motto is “Mounts Climb Together”, something that has definitely rung true throughout this chapter.
“We wouldn’t be able to be here if it was just us on our own doing this,” Matlack added. “It’s been a community-wide effort, a state-wide effort, and all I can say is just ‘thank you’.”
The school will be built not far from the former Antietam Middle-Senior High School, which was damaged beyond repair by flooding in the summer of 2023.