Vo-ag building poised for completion ahead of schedule

Agriculture and vocational students from Glacier and Flathead high schools are set to return from spring break with construction finished on the H.E. Robinson Ag Education Center.

This is the time-frame Swank Construction has set for completing the second phase of construction on the ag education center ahead of schedule. The center is located at 310 FFA Dr. in Kalispell

“The whole process went so much quicker than anticipated that we’ll be done at the end of this month, which will be spring break,” Swank Enterprises Superintendent Monte Moultray said. “When they come back from spring break we want to have it 100% done, which is almost exactly five months ahead of schedule.”

The second phase of construction got underway in May 2019 and includes 21,660 square feet of new construction that includes a new north main entrance, commons, offices, bathrooms, welding shop, classrooms and science lab. Once finished, students moved into the new spaces while about 7,415 square feet of the existing building was remodeled.

The new centrally located, and more visible, main office is located to the left of the main entrance. Before, the main office shared a space with the computer lab, whereas now, it features a dedicated reception space in addition to teacher offices.

To the right of the main entrance is a commons area with tables and seating. Past the commons is a set of double doors that open into a hallway of the existing portion of the building that is well into the remodeled process and where agriculture teacher Brian Bay caught a moment before his next class started to speak with Moultray.

Agriculture teacher Tucker Hankinson, whose classroom is part of the remodel, said the basics — storage, extra bathrooms and improved lighting — probably elicit the most excitement from teachers, in addition to the new veterinary science building and welding shop.

“Having the additional bathroom facilities at both ends of the building, you know, we’re a little more spread out, the additional storage in the classroom, the new cabinets — it’s funny — teachers get excited about that stuff,” Hankinson said. “Storage has been awesome. The new LED lights are so much brighter. Clean paint — it makes such a difference.”

Lockers and washing stations previously located in the section being remodeled have been replaced and relocated to the existing shop area, which received a update where exposed ceiling insulation was removed, windows were replaced and the walls and ceiling painted. The large space houses the center’s wood shop and old welding stalls, which staff decided to retain in addition to building the new adjacent welding shop.

The welding program finally found its permanent home at the center after moving around in recent years due to space, from Flathead High School to Flathead Valley Community College.

The welding shop features 20 stalls. Most are outfitted for welding and plasma cutting, while some are equipped for plasma cutting only. The welding shop was one of the project collaborations among staff, architects, engineers and contractors.

“So now they have welding booths the school pretty much designed themselves,” Moultray said. “We sat down with the supplier, North Valley Steel, and they had kind of sketched this out on a piece of paper and we sat down with them, drew it up and red-lined it a few times.”

“Check this guy out,” Moultray said pulling down a flexible welding fume extractor. “This guy is for your welding, sucks the gas out. I mean these are super awesome. I’ve never seen these before in a high school shop.”

In addition to standard classrooms, one of the classrooms was built with plant propagation in mind. While it looks like an ordinary classroom at the outset, on closer inspection it becomes apparent that it’s a bit more unique.

“It’s so unique the learning environment they offer here,” he added, using that classroom as an example. “They’re planting all their seeds and they germinate them in a greenhouse here on-site.”

Attention to details, such as heavier duty flooring for all the muddy boots that come in, space-saving double stacked lockers to store those boots and extra clothes for handling livestock, matter.

Finishing ahead of schedule comes as a relief to staff who underwent a rocky first phase of construction that took two different contractors to complete. The first phase of the project was the new veterinary science building, a pole barn and greenhouse.

Missoula-based Outback Construction, was initially hired in June 2018 to complete the first phase, but the company reportedly deserted the job, stopped paying subcontractors, who reached out to the district in December 2018, and resulted in incomplete and substandard work.

The district then hired The Construction Group Montana based in Kalispell to finish or bring up to standard roughly $255,000 worth of work, which wrapped up in the fall, according to Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau.

Despite the setback, getting to this final leg of the entire project took a lot of communication, coordination and patience, Hankinson said.

“The kids have been great,” Hankinson said. “They’re excited about it so they’ve helped us with all the move.”

“I think everyone’s ready for it do be done,” he added.

The vo-ag center is the final construction project part of a $28.8 million high school district bond issue approved by voters in October 2016 and funded renovations of Linderman Education Center, Flathead High School and Legends Stadium.

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