High school design taking shape

The Whitefish High School Futures Committee recently completed another phase in a public process to determine how to renovate or replace the current high school facility.

Organized by locals Bayard Dominick and Chris Kelsey, of Steeplechase Development Advisers, the 30-some committee members include residents, teachers, school board trustees, students and administration.

The committee held four workshops on May 19, June 15 and 28, and July 13, facilitated by DLR Group, of Seattle, and Jackola Engineering & Architecture, of Kalispell.

The consultants were selected through a competitive process and hired by the school district using a $14,000 Montana Quality Schools planning grant. Steeplechase's contract could run to $310,000, paid with the school district's share of the city's tax-increment financing (TIF) funding, according to school superintendent Jerry House.

Addressing a need

Two bond elections in the past decade to improve or rebuild the high school failed. After voters turned down a $10.4 million bond proposal in 2003, administrators continued working on plans that culminated in a second bond election in March 2008 — about a year after the lengthy renovation of Whitefish Middle School was completed. Voters turned down that $21.5 million bond request by 2,551 to 1,796.

Meanwhile, conditions at the high school have not changed. Kelsey and Dominick, who moved their offices into the high school, know the conditions firsthand.

"There's no ventilation, and the heat from computers and lights builds up," Kelsey said. "Uncomfortable conditions lead to unproductivity. There's also glare from the windows, and there's not a single ADA-compliant bathroom or locker room in the building."

With much of the facility constructed in the 1950s and the rest built on a tight budget following the 1978 fire, school trustees and administrators see a strong need to address these life-safety issues.

But they also feel that a high school design should be directed by new curriculum needs, with different sizes and types of classrooms than found in the traditional school design. Following that cue, the consultants used the first meeting to focus on broad educational concepts.

Using input from past Speak Out Whitefish meetings, the architects provided the Futures Committee with about 45 buttons with responses such as "hands-on learning," 'sport-academic balance," "college-level courses," "adult education" and "unique to Whitefish."

The buttons were placed on boards labeled "Student centric," Integrate community," "Inspirational" and "Cost effective and right sized."

"One of the ideas is to integrate as much of the community into the facility as possible, to create a multi-use facility," Kelsey said. "We want to engage the community, make them part of education, rather than just sending kids to school."

Sizing it up

The Futures Committee looked at overall square-footage and classroom numbers during their second meeting, using enrollment numbers for grades K-12 from 1994 to the present and projections to 2020.

High school enrollment topped 600 from 1997 through 2008, reaching a peak of 744 in 2005. There has been a steady decline ever since, and current enrollment is 487.

"The high enrollment in 2000 through 2008 was an anomaly," Kelsey said. "There's a perception in the community that enrollment will continue to decline, and that Whitefish High School will become a Class B school. We don't think so."

School officials believe enrollment will start growing again and stabilize in the 500 to 550 range through 2020. They base their "cohort survival strategy" projection on this year's large kindergarten class.

Looking at a 50-year life span for a new high school, the committee focused on new curriculum needs and providing flexibility when figuring how many classrooms would be needed. With teachers lecturing less and more students working at computers, studying alone or participating in groups, the facility needs different sized classrooms, they concluded.

The current high school provides 45 "teaching spaces," which can range from 2 students to 3,000. After reaching a consensus on providing 38 "teaching spaces," the committee divided into five groups to figure out a total square-footage for the facility.

Working independently, the five groups came within 5,000 square feet of each other, Kelsey said — 116,000 square feet. That's about 8,400 square feet more than the present high school but about 32,000 square feet less than the 2003 proposal and about 47,000 square feet less than the 2008 proposal.

"The 2008 design was for 700 students and had the same number of classrooms, but with bigger rooms," Kelsey said.

How to build

The architects returned to the third meeting with three construction alternatives — renovate the current facility to address life and safety issues, such as ventilation, electrical and windows; renovate but also reconfigure rooms by moving walls; or completely replace the facility.

The current high school was divided into five sections. The committee agreed that it made no sense to replace the gym or to keep the 1950s-era C wing. Dealing with A wing proved to be more difficult because its walls are load-bearing and can't be moved around.

A $2.8 million plan to upgrade the gym is already in the works, aside from the overall facility plan. The school district has applied for an $800,000 grant for the first $1 million phase of the plan, which calls for a new floor and bleachers, improved heating and ventilation, new windows to provide daylight, and better acoustics so the gym can be used for concerts.

"The committee agrees that the high school does not need a new auditorium because the district has the middle school auditorium," Kelsey said. "They want to improve the gym for that purpose."

The architects provided the committee with cost estimates for each section of the school using the three construction alternatives, and renovation costs were compared to replacement costs.

Including "phasing" costs of not being able to use portions of the high school during construction, renovating the entire facility could cost up to $16.5 million, renovating and reconfiguring could cost $19 million, and building an entirely new high school could cost $24.5 million. That's $3 million more than the 2008 bond request.

Look and feel

At the end of the third meeting, the architects were provided with collages of images committee members wanted incorporated into the design of a new facility. Kelsey and Dominick downloaded requested images on their computer and printed them out — a library in Bozeman, the Whitefish train depot and Glacier National Park landscapes — and committee members attached them to a large poster.

Six architects returned last week and met with committee members on July 12 and 13. They presented footprints and rough floor plans for the three construction alternatives. A fourth alternative shows a completely new two-story building constructed on the south parking lot attached to the gym.

Some of the architects' ideas were supported by committee members — a fireplace in the main entrance to provide a "living room" feel, irregularly-shaped hallways with study nooks, and a more obvious main entrance on the north side. An outdoor performance center, however, was not considered practical considering the climate here.

The architects will incorporate the committee's likes and dislikes and come back in 2-3 weeks with more detailed plans. The school board will vote on which plans to present to the public for more input. The plans will be presented to staff, parents, students and community groups, as well as at the farmers market and online.

House pointed to the Futures Committee's diversity and how the process shaped the result.

"It's all conceptual at this point," he said. "We're listeners, gathering ideas. We heard people say do this, don't do that. They explained the uniqueness of Whitefish High."

Kelsey noted that some outspoken critics of the last high school bond agree that something needs to be done to fix the current facility.

"The question is to what level," he said.

Before a bond election is brought to the voters, Kelsey noted, the school district will look for other sources of funding, such as state or federal technology grants and private fundraising using nameplates. They're also looking at partnering with local entities that might use the new facility, such as North Valley Hospital.

For more information, visit online at www.whitefishhighschoolfuture.com.