High school construction on schedule

Construction of the new Whitefish High School continues with the roof expected to be on the building by early November.

“The schedule is going well,” said Dow Powell, who is overseeing the project as the school district’s representative. “We’re pleased with how it’s moving forward.”

As of last week, work continued on plywood sheeting of the roof, all of the steel for the building was in place and framing work continues.

Powell praised general contractor Langlas & Associate’s for making sure the school grounds were ready for the start of the school year.

“We got the school as ready as we could for the opening,” he said.

“We could get all the kids and teachers in the school and they weren’t in a big mud hole.”

The new locker rooms in the gym are progressing with walls being painted and tile floors going down. However, the projected timeframe for the locker rooms and showers to become useable has been pushed back to October.

“The hitch will be the electricity and hot water,” Powell said.

He explained that because the final bid package for the construction was approved later than originally anticipated, that has caused a delay in equipment and materials being delivered.

“The whole electric system is changing,” Powell said. “We can’t just hook it into the old system. But we’ll be in there in October.”

The sports teams are using temporary locker rooms set up in the new cardio and weight rooms. Visiting teams continue to use locker rooms at the middle school. Physical education teachers have modified their classes to accommodate the lack of locker rooms.

The activities lockers have been refurbished with new green and gold paint. The recycled lockers are already being used and will be moved into the new locker rooms once complete.

“Not only did we save money, but we also have a higher quality product than we would have,” Principal Kerry Drown noted. “The lockers that were planned were not as heavy duty. Once they were painted and had some body work done — they look amazing.”

The industrial arts classes will soon begin turning the salvaged bleacher wood from the gym into new locker room benches.

By using recycling materials, the school expects to save about $30,000.

“This gives the kids some ownership in the benches,” Trustee Ruth Harrison said. “That’s great.”