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.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Summer film series planned
Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Carbon County Higher Education Center officials would like to extend community education efforts and address economic development from a new angle this summer.
Planning is under way for the western pine beetle film festival, to be co-hosted by the CCHEC and the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation.
Films should portray the “myth of the West,” CCHEC Director Dave Throgmorton said. Ideas range from the 1914 silent film, “The Virginian,” to a John Wayne film, “The Searchers,” to the popular “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and the short classic on Western justice, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
“We want it to be more than just showing movies,” Throgmorton said. “We want people to have a chance to talk to some film critics and film professors so they can become more sophisticated in the way they look at films overall.”
EDC Director Mark Ducker said the series “should be internal and external. Internally, we hope it will create a lot of discussion. There is a lot to the concept of the myth of the West because films often don’t reflect reality. In studying them, we should learn a lot about the history of the American West.” Ducker is also hopeful festival attendees will learn more about Wyoming and Carbon County.
Lectures and workshops would be interspersed with the screenings.
Times staff writer
Carbon County Higher Education Center officials would like to extend community education efforts and address economic development from a new angle this summer.
Planning is under way for the western pine beetle film festival, to be co-hosted by the CCHEC and the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation.
Films should portray the “myth of the West,” CCHEC Director Dave Throgmorton said. Ideas range from the 1914 silent film, “The Virginian,” to a John Wayne film, “The Searchers,” to the popular “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and the short classic on Western justice, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
“We want it to be more than just showing movies,” Throgmorton said. “We want people to have a chance to talk to some film critics and film professors so they can become more sophisticated in the way they look at films overall.”
EDC Director Mark Ducker said the series “should be internal and external. Internally, we hope it will create a lot of discussion. There is a lot to the concept of the myth of the West because films often don’t reflect reality. In studying them, we should learn a lot about the history of the American West.” Ducker is also hopeful festival attendees will learn more about Wyoming and Carbon County.
Lectures and workshops would be interspersed with the screenings.
Grant falls short of floor repair cost
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
A miscalculation in a recreation board grant application cost Carbon County School District 1 nearly $25,000.
The recreation board gave the school district $105,000 to replace the gym floor at Rawlins High School. Last week School Board members awarded a $102,100 contract to Ponder Construction to replace the floor. However, the school district has already spent money on design plans and bid packets and the money to pay those costs will now come from the district’s general maintenance fund, according to District 1 Business Manager Garry Goergen.
“They can’t return to the rec board and ask for money already spent,” said Pat Sheehan, board member and recreation board representative. “It’s against the rules.”
The floor design includes a contingency clause that allows for additional repairs if the construction firm discovers damage that would require the installation of a moisture-wicking mat. If the work needs to be done, RHS Activities Director Darlene O’Melia can apply for more grant money to cover the costs, estimated at $8,990.
Also at the meeting, School Board members:
• Approved a land exchange with the Carbon County Fair Board to make property lines congruent with a fence.
• Approved a new policy capping expenditures for student participation in competitive events that reinforce academic goals at $10,000 for students in grades six to 12.
• Awarded a $251,310 contract to Hutch’s Hi-Country Plumbing and Heating to replace the boiler in the small gym at RHS. The contract is significantly above the anticipated $80,000 cost of the project.
Times staff writer
A miscalculation in a recreation board grant application cost Carbon County School District 1 nearly $25,000.
The recreation board gave the school district $105,000 to replace the gym floor at Rawlins High School. Last week School Board members awarded a $102,100 contract to Ponder Construction to replace the floor. However, the school district has already spent money on design plans and bid packets and the money to pay those costs will now come from the district’s general maintenance fund, according to District 1 Business Manager Garry Goergen.
“They can’t return to the rec board and ask for money already spent,” said Pat Sheehan, board member and recreation board representative. “It’s against the rules.”
The floor design includes a contingency clause that allows for additional repairs if the construction firm discovers damage that would require the installation of a moisture-wicking mat. If the work needs to be done, RHS Activities Director Darlene O’Melia can apply for more grant money to cover the costs, estimated at $8,990.
Also at the meeting, School Board members:
• Approved a land exchange with the Carbon County Fair Board to make property lines congruent with a fence.
• Approved a new policy capping expenditures for student participation in competitive events that reinforce academic goals at $10,000 for students in grades six to 12.
• Awarded a $251,310 contract to Hutch’s Hi-Country Plumbing and Heating to replace the boiler in the small gym at RHS. The contract is significantly above the anticipated $80,000 cost of the project.
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