colorado district contemplating variety of school construction projects

A growing school district in western Colorado is thinking about putting on this November’s ballot a bond proposal to fund the construction of a new high school and the upgrading of several other facilities.
Based in Grand Junction, the Mesa County Valley School District 51 is the tenth largest district in Colorado with 25 elementary schools, eight middle schools, and five high schools.
In 2017 the district saw the successful passage of a $118 million bond designed to pay for both the construction of a new middle school and repairs and upgrades to nearly thirty other facilities.
Now district officials will soon be pouring over the results of an online survey gauging resident responses to a proposed new $175 million bond that would fund the construction replacement of the Grand Junction High School.
That facility was built in 1956 and, according to several reports, has a number of structural issues including a sagging floor, outdated heating system, and classrooms with no windows.
District officials, noting that there have been in excess of six hundred work orders related to the building in the last year, have determined that it would be more cost effective to simply build a new structure.
But the $175 million bond will also be used to fund the construction of additional classrooms at the Fruita Monument High School in the city of Fruita, as well as upgrades to the district’s Palisade High School.

By Garry Boulard

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