The Carbon School District will undertake some large capital improvement projects this summer that will have a direct impact on three schools next fall. There are also some projects in the planning stage for the next few years.
Anyone who has ever tried to park in the parking area at Castle Valley Center while school is in session soon learns that parking at that school is at a premium. Because of the nature of what goes on there, the building has more district personnel than any other school in the district, yet the parking area is rather small.
This summer an expansion of the north parking lot to the west, taking up some of the lawn in the play field and extending to the fence by the wash will take place.
This will give the school an additional 40 parking spaces, which will help particularly on days when events are going on at the school.
Another parking project that will be constructed is one that will take place at Castle Heights Elementary. For years the front parking lot has been cramped and the small parking in the back of the school has not been utilized the way it could be. This summer the back parking lot will be expanded to the east to accommodate faculty parking. The front lot will be dedicated to parking for visitors and others. In addition the drive along the north end of the school is going to be reconstructed. The pavement there is as old as the school (over 30 years old) and needs replacement. A retaining wall will be put in place along the drive and the present playground where new equipment was installed last summer will get a new six foot fence to separate it from the new access drive.
At Helper Middle School the district hopes to solve a long-standing problem along Uintah Street. The street is very narrow and when school buses come to pick up or drop off students the road can become almost impassible, especially when there are a lot of cars parked on the road. The district plans to have a pull in for buses constructed which will get the large vehicles off of Uintah and into their own stopping area. The pullout will accommodate up to four buses at once and will be in front of the school.
Helper Middle School has also had parking problems for years too. The lot in the back of the school is going to be restriped so that it can accommodate more vehicles, which will help on days when football games and basketball games take place too. In addition the district is going to take down the shed on the north side of the vocational arts building which will allow for some unpaved overflow parking as well.
Projects that will not be started this year, but that may be coming in the future include:
• An expansion of the cafeteria at Helper Middle School. The plan is to bump out the cafeteria to the east, doubling the space in the eating area there. At present, even with a small student body, Helper has a very crowded cafeteria during its lunch periods.
• An added four classroom wing at Castle Valley Center. This new wing would accommodate those functions that have been in the portable classrooms for many years. Those portables don’t have any restroom facilities in which are badly needed. The new area would also serve as a place for the adult program which was put in the main building after the program was displaced from its own building last year.
The three projects that are planned for this summer will be bid out sometime this month and contractors will be expected to start on them when school is out. All three should be completed by the time school starts next fall.
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