LPW chosen to lead SD6 elementary planning

The School District 6 board last week chose LPW Architecture to help plan for the future of the district’s elementary school needs.

LPW is the same firm that helped Whitefish with a nearly complete tear down of Muldown Elementary School — a $26.5 million project. LPW will steer the district and the community through the planning process for the future needs of the district — while Glacier Gateway and Ruder are full, the district still owns Canyon Elementary School, which is no longer used as classrooms.

The planning process is expected to take about eight months, with a host of public meetings as the district considers whether to add on to existing schools, build a new school, or another alternative. The hope is to have a plan in place by 2020, as that’s when the junior high bond will be paid off.

LPW edged out CTA Architects-Engineering for services. The board liked both firms, but LPW proposed having more meetings.

It’s estimated the cost of the planning alone will be between $30,000 and $40,000.

In other news:

- The district signed a contract with Coca-Cola for beverages for the next five years or until a minimum of 9,870 cases of product are sold. Coca-Cola will pay the district $10,000 in a lump sum, along with an additional $1,500 per year of the contract. The district will also get up to $675 per year in water bottles and 10 gallon containers with the PowerAde logo on them. In addition, the district gets 25 percent of cash collected from the vending machines.

- The district swore in incumbent trustee Jill Rocksund and new trustee Michael Nicosia to the board. They also bid outgoing boardmember Jim Henjum a fond farewell after he served 13 years on the board.