YOUR AD HERE »

GarCo schools ready for construction after voter approval

JOHN GARDNERPost Independent Staff

Voters for both Garfield County School District Re-2 and Garfield County School District 16 passed bond issues in Tuesday’s elections. Funds will be used for construction upgrades to accommodate the growth felt throughout the districts and to provide adequate learning facilities for the children. Now that the districts have the money they can begin the construction projects.At a special school board meeting for Re-2 on Wednesday night, school board members made several necessary steps to begin construction as soon as possible.”The school board has done a lot before hand if the bond passed in order to hit the ground running,” said Director of Districtwide Services Theresa Hamilton. “Last time we passed a bond it was months before we got this far.”With many of the elements already in place, such as the location for the new elementary school in Silt, the school board was well prepared to get construction going quickly after the bond passed.”We weren’t counting our chickens before they hatched,” Hamilton said. “The board members just wanted to be prepared if the bond passed.”At Wednesday’s meeting the board wasted no time in approving construction managers and architects for renovations at Wamsley Elementary and architects to plan the upgrades to Rifle High School, New Castle Middle School and the Re-2 Transportation facility.The land set aside for the new Silt Elementary has an existing house on the property that has to be demolished before construction can begin. But first must have asbestos removed before demolition and Excell Environmental was selected to take on the task.Companies were doing construction preparation on Thursday due to the foresight of the board.”It was mainly site prep work so far,” Hamilton said. “But we anticipate breaking ground on the new elementary school in Silt in the next couple of weeks.”The folks in Parachute are preparing for a number of upgrades and new construction as well. The next step in the process for them will be completing some site issues first. According to the Project Manager from LKA Partners in Colorado Springs, Jim Cook, the four school projects still have some site issues to work out with Battlement Mesa for the new High School.Proposals for the projects have to be sent out next and construction cost estimates received in order to move forward. Renovations are expected to begin in the summer of 2007. The expected start date for the more involved construction projects such as the new Middle School will begin later that summer.Contact John Gardner: 945-8515, ext. 16604jgardner@postindependent.com


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.