BANGOR, Pa.- Pius X High School meant something to the Goffredo family.
Several generations attended classes there. Later, some returned as coaches and school board members. Heck, they even helped to build the place in the late 1940s. One of the Goffredos was in charge of servicing the structure’s dinosaur of an HVAC system for many years.
The family couldn’t save the school from closing down amid dwindling enrollment in 2015, but they can save the building itself. And that’s exactly what they intend to do.
The former Pius X High School, Bangor
Earlier this month, Nu Cor Management officially bought the property at 530 3rd Ave. in Bangor for $350,000.
Nu Cor Management is a construction and general contracting company based in Wind Gap. It’s truly a family business, with roots that stretch back to 1926, when John Goffredo and Sons got its start as a plumbing and heating oil delivery business.
Eventually, the company branched out into construction and became MSG Associates in 1983. It was rebranded as Nu Cor in 2007. Now, the company is helmed by John J. Goffredo and his son, John P. Goffredo, along with John J.’s brother, Robert Goffredo, and Robert’s son, Rob Goffredo.
From left to right: John P. Goffredo, John J. Goffredo, Robert Goffredo, Rob Goffredo, of Nu Cor Management
Photo provided by John P. Goffredo
There are other family members on the payroll, too, working in the office and out in the field. “We have a large Italian family, and for four generations we’ve been in construction,” said John P., who is also the vice president of Northampton County Council.
Discussions about the future of the Pius X campus have been going on for several years. In 2021, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, which is directly across the street from the school, bought Pius X and its associated properties- including a football field, former convent and parking lot- from the Diocese of Allentown. “It’s in the center of our town, and the church thought it’d be better off if they bought it and controlled the future,” John P. said.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Roseto
What would that future look like? Ideas were tossed around, but nothing materialized. The school continued to gather cobwebs. It was also a drain on the church’s finances, which was shelling out tens of thousands of dollars every year in upkeep.
Fast forward to this year. Nu Cor Management was having some growing pains in Wind Gap. Initially the company planned to expand where it was, but, after crunching the numbers, decided that the construction costs and design fees might not be worth it.
An alternate option was needed. What about that brick and block building on 3rd Ave., the place that John P. likened to a fortress? “We played with an idea of putting in an offer to buy the school, and the church was more than open to it, and the community was very open to it. So it ended up working out for us,” he said.
There was something else that convinced the family that buying the old school was the way to go; someone offered the church $250,000 to aid in the cost of knocking the place down. That didn’t sit well with the Goffredos. “We want to see the building stand, and we want to bring it back to its former glory,” said John J. “We want it to be not a nuisance to the community, but an asset to the community.”
The campus is bigger than what Nu Cor needs, so they won’t be using all of space. The gymnasium will serve as a warehouse and work area, and the second floor will be the company’s offices. “We don’t have any immediate ideas for the first floor and the junior high wing and the basement, but we want to get established in there first,” John P. said. “Once we get through that move, which we hope to be in by the spring of next year, we will start to spend a little bit more time on some of the other uses for the building.”
The former Pius X High School, as seen from behind
One thing is for certain: Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Big Time, a multi-day summer festival that just marked its 132nd year, and uses the school grounds, can continue to do so. “We’re very community minded,” John J. said. “We’re all from Roseto, and it’s very big to the community.”
There’s work to be done, of course, in transforming the classrooms and hallways where students and teachers once roamed into a suitable space for a construction company. “We’re going to go in and make a substantial investment in the property, and hopefully it works for everybody,” John J. said.