Essex County Newark Tech to get $30 million expansion, renovation – nj.com

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. was joined by Gov. Phil Murphy at the groundbreaking of a $31.7 million project to expand and modernize Essex County Newark Tech on Monday, June 28. Essex County Newark Tech is the third school building in the Essex County Schools of Technology District to undergo renovations in the last five years.

“I am proud to be starting construction on our third school building in five years. When Newark Tech is completed, all of the buildings in our Vocational School district will be state-of-the-art and all of our students will have the most up to date resources to learn and prepare for their future,” DiVincenzo said. “Constructing modern school facilities demonstrates our commitment to providing our students with a first class education and a foundation on which they can build their lives,” he added.

“Today capture the importance of education for our children. We come together and are talking about our children, education, the future of Newark and Essex County, and STEM. This school will go a long way toward achieving those aspirations,” Gov. Murphy said.

The centerpiece of the project is a three-story, 16,500-square-foot addition that will be constructed in a parking lot behind the school on Lock Street. The addition will have a modern entry, new media center on the second floor and new cafeteria on the third floor.

The 165,000 square feet of space inside the existing school building will be completely overhauled. Two new physics labs, a new suite for the school nurse, a second TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning) Center and general classrooms will be created. The existing cafeteria kitchen and serving area, faculty lounge, cabinetry lab and office spaces will be converted to support the TEAL Center. The renovation also includes the refurbishment of an existing wheelchair lift and freight elevator and the modernization of restrooms for students and staff. The entire building will receive a state-of-the-art HVAC system, fire alarm system, upgraded electrical system and audio-visual and IT systems.

DiCara Rubino Architects from Wayne was awarded a $2.2 million contract to design the addition and renovations. Epic Management from Piscataway was awarded a publicly bid contract for $28,509,000 to perform the construction. Jingoli and Sons from Lawrence was awarded a $999,069 contract for serve as the construction manager of the project.

Essex County Newark Tech is the third school building construction project undertaken within the last five years. Construction on the Essex County Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology started in 2016 and lasted two years, with the school opening in 2018 at a cost of about $102 million. The $30 million project to expand and modernize the Essex County West Caldwell School of Technology started once the Payne School was completed. West Caldwell Tech was scheduled to welcome students in March 2021 but the opening was delayed because the school was used as a COVID-19 vaccination center. Construction at Essex County Newark Tech is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2022.

Ninety percent of the costs for the school construction projects is being reimbursed with grants from the State of New Jersey. Essex County is responsible for paying 10 percent of the costs, which comes to about $16 million. Part of those costs will be offset with the sale of the old North 13th Street Tech in Newark and the old Bloomfield Tech in Bloomfield, which were closed after the opening of the Donald Payne School.