OAKLAND, NJ-The financing wasn’t easy, and the construction in some ways unusual for a school, but then the Reed Academy at 25 Potash Rd. here is a special learning institution in a number of ways.

The private nonprofit school teaches life skills for people with autism aged 3 to 21, providing challenges in getting the project built, says Joseph Langan, president of Elmwood Park, NJ-based River Drive Construction, the construction manager that completed the 25,000-square-foot school. The Academy was looking to relocate from a smaller facility in Garfield, NJ.

“It’s rare that we get a real feel-good project,” Langan tells GlobeSt.com. “I was with these folks when they were trying to get financing. I’d sit with these parents and hear their stories.”

River Drive was retained by owner’s representative Ed Walsh, president of The Walsh Co. The architectural firm for the project was New York City-based Weisz and Yoes Architecture.

The building includes laundry facilities for student use, a replica of an average household bathroom and a full kitchen, to teach the students everyday tasks. “These parents’ biggest fear is how to mainstream these kids into society,” Langan says. Additional spaces in the building include classrooms, an exercise area, a nursing bay and life skills suites. 

But there were other challenges unique to a school for students with these very special needs. For example, Langan was told that placing different colored carpet in each of the classrooms would help the students identify the areas. Some hallways are curved to avoid an institutional feel. And architects Weisz and Yoes Architecture of New York City designed a unique roofline for which River Drive had to fabricate trusses. “I was very pleased at the end of the day,” Langan says. “It’s a brilliant-looking building.”

Raising money for a new school during the depths of a recession wasn’t easy – Langan noted that numbers really had to be crunched. Yet the slowdown also helped the Reed Academy get built.

“We tried to get donated materials, from the door handles to the light fixtures,” Langan says. “And because the economy softened, we were able to squeeze in the job.”

Ultimately, Columbia Bank provided financing and construction began on the $4.9 million project in June 2010. It was complete in time for the school year.

For Langan, though, the involvement continues. “I’ve gotten to know some of the parents on a personal basis,” Langan says, adding that some one in 110 children are affected by autism spectrum disorder. “You hear how many people you know who are affected by this.”