Projects spruce up Kalispell schools

With the exception of exterior work such as siding and landscaping, the majority of construction is finished at Elrod, Russell and Peterson elementary schools while progress continues on Flathead High School, Linderman Education Center and the H.E. Robinson Vocational Agriculture Center.

“The most significant [part] on the elementary side is all three gyms are occupied, we have certificates of occupancy and we are winding down on the finishing up of four of the five sites,” Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau said.

Edgerton’s main office and entrance relocation is complete with the previous location being used as classroom space.

In addition to new gyms, construction included multipurpose rooms, flex labs and deferred maintenance.

Any punch list items left are slated for completion in the spring and summer.

One of the remaining punch list items at Rankin Elementary is the concrete flooring. Rankin opened in August 2018 and is the district’s newest school. While cracks in concrete are unavoidable due to settling, for example, there are some cracks that are widening, according to the school district’s representative Erick Enz of Axiom Builders Group. Flatau said the district continues to monitor the issue.

“We have a full-year warranty on that,” Flatau said. “We’re going to wait until we get through winter and we know by spring that settling should have occurred and then we’ll revisit that. There will definitely need to be some reworking and repairing of those areas.”

Hedges Elementary is the last elementary building to undergo construction, which is set to begin in April.

The elementary projects are part of a $25.3 million bond issue. Enz said the elementary budgets are in good shape. He said one of the challenges came with Rankin, which was completed through value engineering, when bids came in higher than anticipated.

“That’s the one we kind of had to work around,” Enz said. “Part of the reason is the bid climate was volatile then.”

Roughly $109,756 remains in a contingency fund that began with $376,722 for Elrod, Edgerton, Peterson, Russell and Peterson. At Rankin, $273,702 remains in a contingency fund that began with a $386,579 balance.

Work on $28.8 million in projects in the high school district is ongoing.

Flathead High School’s addition is in different stages of completion.

“We’ll have different parts of the building completed in different phases to maximize efficiency — we have all the trades in there working,” Enz said.

“In the commons area southeast of the new addition they’re putting flooring in, they have the ceiling grid up and ceiling tiles in many classrooms,” he said.

The section of the addition closest to the existing building is the farthest along, Enz said. About $270,480 (out of $481,400) remains in contingency money.

Progress on the south end of Linderman Education Center continues. An elevator was installed and the basement level is being remodeled into a cafeteria and commons. Previously, meals were served on the gym stage. Roughly around mid-April, crews will move into the north end of the building where the first item of business will be demolishing some interior walls. The Linderman project has roughly $187,252 remaining in a contingency fund that had a beginning balance of $354,776.

Phase two of the vo-ag center is set to begin at the end of March. Phase two includes additions and renovations that impact the main entrance, administrative offices, welding and science departments, locker area, commons and conference room. Phase one encompassed a veterinary science building and pole barn used for equipment storage, in addition to relocating the greenhouse. There is approximately $234,610 in contingency money set aside for the second phase of construction.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.