New Whitefish school 60% complete; on budget

On Aug. 28, Muldown Elementary students were having fun out on the playground during their first day of school while across the way, construction crews were building the two-story facility that will replace the existing school.

Located south of Whitefish High School, on the corner of East Seventh Street and Pine Avenue, the new elementary is 60 percent complete and on schedule, according to owner’s representative Dow Powell of Dow’s Custom Construction.

Powell also noted the project is on budget. The new school is funded through a $26.5 million bond issue voters approved in October 2017 to replace the aging Muldown.

The approximately 93,000-square-foot school can accommodate more than 800 students, according to Powell. Currently, Muldown has a total enrollment of 715 students and is the largest K-4 elementary in the state.

At the main entrance, Powell talked about how building security played an important role in the design. Offices for administrators and the school resource officer flank a vestibule visitors will enter and check in before gaining entry into the school. He also noted each of the classroom wings have sets of doors on an interconnected system that can be locked if a situation arose that required a lockdown.

Off the left side of the main entrance is the kindergarten wing, where crews were finishing installation of steel framing.

“This is the last piece of framing of the interior of the building,” Powell said.

The kindergarten wing has eight classrooms and one preschool classroom. Each classroom has a bathroom for the school’s youngest students. Kindergartners will also have their own playground to the west of the building.

Off the right side of the main entrance are eight first-grade and eight second-grade classrooms, two music rooms, an art/enrichment room and the library. Attached to the library is a media room that will house computers and a green room for video projects. Powell drew attention to a large window in the library and talked about natural light as another important element in the building design. Even in an interior main corridor, daylight streamed down through skylights.

The gymnasium, located to the north of the building, is about 8,000 square feet. Bleachers will be installed that seat up to 600 people when fully extended. He said this would typically be during an assembly or performance. If there’s a sports game, the bleachers may be pulled out to seat up to 400. There will also be an acoustic wall that can be pulled out to divide the gym for multiple uses.

Walking past the gym, to the northeast side of the building Powell stopped at a commons/dining room and kitchen area, which is nearest to completion inside the building.

“We’re already Sheetrocking in the kitchen. It’s all wired and plumbed. So, we’re moving east to west as we move along,” Powell said.

Upstairs are third- and fourth-grade classrooms. Each grade level has six classrooms. The playground area for first- through fourth-graders will be situated on the east side of the building.

In addition to classrooms, each grade level has a resource room, teacher workroom and breakout spaces. He said if there was an instance when enrollment fluctuated for a particular grade or year the resource rooms could be used for overflow since they are the size of regular classrooms.

Flexibility was also a priority in the building. Some of the classrooms and resource rooms will have dividing walls that open to either another room or to a breakout space to provide more space.

“Maybe if two classes wanted to get together they could utilize it. It just gives them more options,” Powell said.

Planners also accounted for future building expansion if needed.

“You could get four more classrooms if needed. You would expand off the front of the building,” Powell said.

On the building exterior, siding was going up above a section of stone facade. Some windows have already being installed.

“The goal is to have the exterior pretty much complete by late fall,” Powell said.

The elementary is set to open for the next school year in August 2020.

Bonds will also fund demolishing and retaining portions of Muldown for later repurposing.

“We have a $1.8 million budget,” Powell said.

Prior to the bond issue election, the district proposed retaining a portion of the building built in the 1990s that included a kindergarten wing, a two-story first- and second-grade wing and the gym to eventually repurpose.

In September, Powell said the board will be presented with different scenarios on how to proceed as far as what will be demolished, retained and repurposed. Factoring into the discussion, is a proposed privately funded sports complex at the high school, which impacts where district shipping/receiving and maintenance storage will be located.

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