LSRV building planning progresses

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Getting a head start on the evaluation of a building that has an estimated third of its life left, an advisory board at the Little Snake River Valley School has teamed with the district’s planning architect Brad Oberg to create a list of facility recommendations.

“Every square inch is well used,” Oberg said of the building in his presentation to the Carbon County District 1 School Board. In fact, the space is so well used, the appeal for adequate storage popped up more than once throughout the evaluation.

“The art room definitely needs to be addressed.” Our art teacher “is constantly struggling with where she can store supplies,” advisory board Chairwoman Janet Herold said.

The recommendations include space for teachers when they’re not in the classroom. Advisory board members consider the existing lounges to be less than ideal.

Since the gyms are used by the community members as well as sports teams, a second gym is also in order.

Technology updates were high on the priority list. Audio enhancement is becoming a staple for educational environments nationwide, and the advisory board wants to adopt it soon.

As the school’s programs excel, teachers need more space and better facilities. Herold outlined a need for an expanded vocational agriculture department as well as updated athletic facilities.
“The locker rooms are antiquated, horrendous,” she said.

Other suggestions involved sprucing the school up so that the students, staff and community would be proud to call it a community center.

Herold pointed out that the elementary, junior high and high school students should have boundaries between them to foster grade-level pride. Currently, elementary students walk past high school classrooms to get to gym class, and Herold said that middle school students sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Upgrades to electrical, lighting, fire safety, security, plumbing, flooring and heating and ventilation work are all on the agenda.

Since the community takes pride in the school, it is well maintained. “A lot of schools are not half this old and are not in half as good of shape,” LSRV Principal Rick Newton said. Still, the roofs, the parking lot and general accessibility need to be addressed, he said.


Partnership should help

Ken Daraie, director of the Wyoming School Facilities Commission, has agreed to help with the design of the Little Snake River Valley community center as a precursor to future school construction.

According to Jim Espy, a Carbon County District 1 School Board member, the school usually comes before the center.

In Baggs’ case, Daraie acknowledged the community’s predicament and suggested that the commission become part of the community center’s joint powers board. As part of the design process, the board would decide together where to put the school and center complex.

“The design process is always expensive,” Espy said. “If the SFC helps out, it will save a lot.”
The partnership could help secure a grant from the Wyoming Business Council. The grant requires that the funds go toward expanding, renovating or enhancing existing structures or schools.

The town of Baggs planned to purchase a building to which the new center could be attached. However, the expense may be circumvented if the business council takes into consideration plans for a new school at the same location.