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“Renovated school will be open for tours”

Monday, 15 January 2007
By SAM GALSKI

The public will have an opportunity to tour the former HazletonHigh School when HazletonAreaSchool District officials rededicate the renowned local landmark on Jan. 25.
Staff and students from Hazle Elementary School will move into the building Thursday and the public will get its chance to tour the facility the following week, school board President Rick Morelli said.
Rededication ceremonies will begin at4:30 p.m. onJanuary 25with a half-hour slide show presentation prepared by Phil Latella, a guidance counselor from HazleElementary School.
Latella will play a video showing how the building looked before, during and after crews refurbished the building, Morelli said. A jazz band will perform during the half-hour presentation.
Around 500 brochures and DVDs donated by Hazle Elementary’s PTA and the high school band will be distributed (one per family) to attendees, Morelli said.
Speakers will take the podium at around 5 p.m. and will include students, administrators and local elected officials serving as keynote speakers, Morelli said.
Hazle Elementary Principal Maureen DeRose, Superintendent Frank Victor, Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta and Morelli will take part in the 45-minute ceremony, according to the school board president.
The public will be able to tour the building following the presentation, Morelli said. "After the dedication, the public will be able to tour the ‘Castle,’" he explained. "Our cheerleaders will be up there in uniform to direct the public where to go as well as to explain what is what."
Tours will continue as the school board holds its regular monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m., he said. The walk-through will wrap up at around 9 p.m., Morelli said.
High school social studies teacher Robert Shanno planned the ceremonies and Morelli said he mailed invitations to public officials from each of the 16 municipalities within the district.
Past principals and vice principals were also invited to attend, as were "others who were instrumental in helping the building be resurrected," the board president said.
Morelli said he’s glad to see the renovation project come to a close, saying he feels the public will be impressed with the restoration project.
"After a long time of battling back and forth with the architect and contractors, I’m pleased to see the finished project," Morelli said. "I think the public is going to be very impressed with the building. Again, we’ve had the option of going a different route – back when the architect had 24 options for us to choose from. We did not have to rebuild this. But, there’s no question in my mind – we made the right decision."