Glacier Gateway opening pushed back to December

Students and staff at Glacier Gateway Elementary School in Columbia Falls will have to wait a few more months to move into the new building that’s under construction.

Project managers from Swank Construction told the School District 6 Board that due to supply chain issues and the delay in the original building permit, the school would be delayed until Dec. 15.

The school was originally slated to open at the beginning of the school year in September.

The delays came in a variety of forms. First, the building permit took about a month to get, as the city of Whitefish, which does the permitting process and building inspections under contract for Columbia Falls, saw a delay. Then the steel for the structure was delayed along with concrete pours.

Cold and poor weather also caused some setbacks in the past few weeks.

Covid-19 was a big part of the reason for delays in concrete and steel shipments, project managers Monte Moultray and Grant Kerley told the board.

Despite the challenges, crews have been making significant progress to get the school done.

In a normal year, crews would work four 10-hour shifts. Now they’re working five and sometimes six days a week.

The delay doesn’t come as a complete surprise. The steel supply problem arose last fall.

Swank wants to assure it’s a quality job, Moultray and Kerley noted. The junior high, which Swank built more than 20 years ago, still looks new today. They want a similar result with the new Glacier Gateway School.

“That’s why recommend the middle of December,” Kerley said. “We expect it to last 50-plus years.”

The delay will pose some challenges. The school will have to tweak its Christmas break schedule to accommodate the move and Swank will have to tear down the old building and create some temporary access in that time frame. Christmas break will likely extend until Jan. 4.

In addition, the school will have to use the old building another four winter months.

Kerley said if the old building needed some temporary maintenance, Swank was willing to help.

The board took the news in stride.

“I think they’re doing an admirable job,” despite the supply chain issues, noted longtime board member Larry Wilson.