School may need pole barn to keep park cabin program going

Columbia Falls High School may have to build a sizable pole barn to continue a building program with Glacier National Park.

Superintendent Steve Bradshaw suggested to the board recently that the school build a pole barn in order to facilitate a program where it will build cabins for the park.

He said the school needed to pole barn so it could build two cabins at once and work on the roof of the structures in inclement weather.

The school agreed to work with Glacier in its School-to-Park program, which teams the school up with park staff to build the structures.

Beginning next school year, students were to participate in building design using computer aided design and drafting (CADD) software, materials cost-estimating, and construction planning and then build a fully outfitted, 18-by-26-foot, two-bedroom cabin. When completed, the cabin will be moved into the park and set on its foundation and connected to the utilities in time for use by summer park employees. The cabin will replace a deteriorated residential cabin that has many code violations and is slated for removal.

Primary funding of $269,000 will be provided by the National Park Service and will cover the costs of building materials, special tools, and contracting with a transportation company to move the finished cabin to the site. The funding will also pay for the hiring of a Park Service employee with a wide set of residential construction skills who will work with the students and teachers at the school to help complete the project.

But the addition of a pole barn wasn’t exactly in the budget.

Bradshaw said the Glacier National Park Conservancy has indicated a willingness to help with the pole barn.

But Trustee Michael Nicosia noted that while he supported the program, he also urged Bradshaw and school staff to seek other funding, as the program was initially approved by the board as having little, if any, cost to the district.