School board OKs high school plans
PALMER -- The school board approved
design plans for Susitna Valley J./Sr. High
School's replacement campus April 2, but what
colors the outside will bear is still a matter of
contention among the school's faculty and staff.
design plans for Susitna Valley J./Sr. High
School's replacement campus April 2, but what
colors the outside will bear is still a matter of
contention among the school's faculty and staff.
The board voted unanimously for approval
following a brief presentation by the main
architect.
When asked for her vote, trustee Sandra
White of Talkeetna said, "Yippee, yes!" The Su
Valley High graduate, whose resignation for
personal reasons was announced at the end of
the meeting, was a fixture at school design
meetings held at the temporary campus in
Sunshine since last fall..
The school board directed that the plans
should contain as an alternate design feature an
"exterior multi-use facility" to accommodate
tennis and basketball during warm weather and
that possibly could be flooded for hockey in the
winter.
The "exterior multi-use facility" was named
following a tortured round of word-crafting by
school board members eager to let the state
know the facility would not be only a hockey
rink. The state declined to pay for such a rink
earlier this year.
The school is expected to cost a total of $19
million. About $1.3 million of that will go to
furniture and technology.
Project architect Michael Carlson said there is
still a big difference between the district's
insurance firm and the district over the value of
the old school and its contents, so negotiations
continue about how much of the $19 million will
be covered.
"We're still in a somewhat unfortunate position
of not knowing what our budget is," Carlson
said. Still, the construction bid proceeded and
the school is still on track to open next fall.
On April 15 at 7 p.m. the design will go
before the Borough Assembly for approval.
One moving target is how the building will
look.
Carlson sent out a rendering in late March
with light blue and green hues, but following a
small blizzard of critical e-mails sent out three
more versions, including one with earthier tones.
Carlson said Principal Matt Clark promised to
broker a collective decision on color schemes by
the end of the school year.
The debate was fast but not so furious among
a staff eager to get into the new campus but
largely wary of the pale look in early renderings.
Teacher Jennifer Keenan wrote to Carlson
that using variants of school colors isn’t as good
an idea as going green. “Are we married to the
Su Valley colors for the exterior? Any chance
that we could choose colors that fit more
closely to the natural world? Green, for
example? Are we going to love blue and gold
10, 20, or 30 years from now . . .?”
Keenan seems to have plenty of support.
“I agree with Jen. I think the colors should
blend in with our environment and reflect our
close connection to the outdoors. There will be
enough blue and gold around to keep our school
colors intact,” wrote physical education teacher
Steve Harrison.
On the other side of the scale are those who
want full-on royal blue and gold, Su Valley’s
school colors.
“No matter what color you go for will you
love it 10, 20, 30 years from now? Better it be
school colors,” wrote school secretary and
registrar Virginia (Ms. Ginny) Robson.
“I like the idea of blue up high against the sky
-- it is natural whereas green would not be at the
roof level,” wrote English and Spanish teacher
Patricia Bills.
Then there are those willing to compromise a
little.
“The right blue and yellow (say a sky blue and
sunshine yellow) can blend naturally into the
surroundings and support our school colors &
spirit at the same time. I do think the exterior of
our school should reflect the school colors.
Thankfully our school colors are great colors
overall. I can think of many school colors that
would be much more difficult to work with,”
wrote science and math teacher Bruce Hamler.
following a brief presentation by the main
architect.
When asked for her vote, trustee Sandra
White of Talkeetna said, "Yippee, yes!" The Su
Valley High graduate, whose resignation for
personal reasons was announced at the end of
the meeting, was a fixture at school design
meetings held at the temporary campus in
Sunshine since last fall..
The school board directed that the plans
should contain as an alternate design feature an
"exterior multi-use facility" to accommodate
tennis and basketball during warm weather and
that possibly could be flooded for hockey in the
winter.
The "exterior multi-use facility" was named
following a tortured round of word-crafting by
school board members eager to let the state
know the facility would not be only a hockey
rink. The state declined to pay for such a rink
earlier this year.
The school is expected to cost a total of $19
million. About $1.3 million of that will go to
furniture and technology.
Project architect Michael Carlson said there is
still a big difference between the district's
insurance firm and the district over the value of
the old school and its contents, so negotiations
continue about how much of the $19 million will
be covered.
"We're still in a somewhat unfortunate position
of not knowing what our budget is," Carlson
said. Still, the construction bid proceeded and
the school is still on track to open next fall.
On April 15 at 7 p.m. the design will go
before the Borough Assembly for approval.
One moving target is how the building will
look.
Carlson sent out a rendering in late March
with light blue and green hues, but following a
small blizzard of critical e-mails sent out three
more versions, including one with earthier tones.
Carlson said Principal Matt Clark promised to
broker a collective decision on color schemes by
the end of the school year.
The debate was fast but not so furious among
a staff eager to get into the new campus but
largely wary of the pale look in early renderings.
Teacher Jennifer Keenan wrote to Carlson
that using variants of school colors isn’t as good
an idea as going green. “Are we married to the
Su Valley colors for the exterior? Any chance
that we could choose colors that fit more
closely to the natural world? Green, for
example? Are we going to love blue and gold
10, 20, or 30 years from now . . .?”
Keenan seems to have plenty of support.
“I agree with Jen. I think the colors should
blend in with our environment and reflect our
close connection to the outdoors. There will be
enough blue and gold around to keep our school
colors intact,” wrote physical education teacher
Steve Harrison.
On the other side of the scale are those who
want full-on royal blue and gold, Su Valley’s
school colors.
“No matter what color you go for will you
love it 10, 20, 30 years from now? Better it be
school colors,” wrote school secretary and
registrar Virginia (Ms. Ginny) Robson.
“I like the idea of blue up high against the sky
-- it is natural whereas green would not be at the
roof level,” wrote English and Spanish teacher
Patricia Bills.
Then there are those willing to compromise a
little.
“The right blue and yellow (say a sky blue and
sunshine yellow) can blend naturally into the
surroundings and support our school colors &
spirit at the same time. I do think the exterior of
our school should reflect the school colors.
Thankfully our school colors are great colors
overall. I can think of many school colors that
would be much more difficult to work with,”
wrote science and math teacher Bruce Hamler.
Download your own copy of school
site plans and drawings:
www.mcgalaska.com/inprocess/suvalleyjrsr/d
esignstatus.htm
site plans and drawings:
www.mcgalaska.com/inprocess/suvalleyjrsr/d
esignstatus.htm
