School district swaps Old School Station property

Kalispell Public Schools will swap its Old School Station lot after being approached by a neighboring lot owner.

The swap was requested by DCP, LLC, which wanted to own a lot contiguous to its FedEx facility, according to the school district.

The school district initially purchased Lot 3A, following voter approval last May, to build a new transportation and maintenance department facility. Lot 4, is approximately 4.7 acres.

After consulting with architects and engineers the swap for Lot 4 owned by DCP was deemed suitable for the district’s needs and would provide better options for ingress, egress, stormwater retention, and although larger than its initial lot, would cost less to develop, according to the district.

Preliminary site layout plans show a 7,800 square-foot transportation facility, maintenance facility, print shop and a covered equipment storage building. A 97,000 square foot asphalt lot will provide parking for 50 buses or 60 cars.

Martel Construction was selected to serve as the construction manager at-risk on the project. Swank Enterprises was also considered for the position and was the only other company to respond to the district’s Request for Proposals. Martel’s contract is for $158,502 plus 4.95% for overhead.

The district has set aside $5 million in transportation and interlocal funds to build the new facility.

The land purchase is meant to centralize the departments and district buses in one location. The departments are currently spread between city-owned property south of Legends Stadium and district-owned property on East Washington Street and Meridian Court, all in Kalispell.

The district will request school board approval Tuesday to have Morrison-Maierle conduct a site topographic study and boundary line adjustment to support the development of lots 3A and 4 with the cost to be reimbursed by DCS.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 406-758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.