New Ten Sleep School to be built in current location
Board makes decision on site following review of survey
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Plan One
Washakie County School District No. 2 decided Monday night to build the new school on the current property. Under a proposal by Plan 1 of Cody, the new Ten Sleep School would feature a two-story design, with second floor access to the gymnasium.
TEN SLEEP – The Washakie County School District No. 2 board of trustees met Monday evening, and after reviewing the results from a community survey regarding the future new school facility, voted to stay in their current location.
According to Superintendent Jimmy Phelps, the district will move forward with plans to build on the existing location, and will appeal to the state School Facilities Department to bring the plan before an appropriations committee in December.
"I'm glad the decision was finally made," remarked Phelps. "The results of the [community] survey helped the board feel confident that the public supported the decision to stay where we are, and continue with plans to build."
The community survey was created by the district board to gauge public response to the school construction, and offered two proposals: moving the school to town property south of Ten Sleep, or staying in the same location and building adjacent. Of the 167 surveys returned, 83 (53.53 percent) voted that the school should remain in town. A majority also disagreed with tentative plans to relocate the library should the school move, and most had concerns over students crossing the highway and a well-travelled bridge to get to school.
"I'm impressed that people took the time to take the survey," said Phelps, "and I'm actually surprised at the amount of responses. Overall, for questions that required a written response, we received over 500 comments."
The survey results by percentage and vote are available on the district's website, although comments are not yet included. "We will be posting all of the comments at a later date," said Phelps.
Dan Odasz, vice president of Plan One, a state-sponsored architectural firm based in Cody, previously presented an extensive option for Ten Sleep School to be built on current school property, with outlying parking areas and an additional 10 acres for a football field. The proposed facility features a two-story design, and would be built just north of the current school.
As explained by Odasz, the proposed facility could be built while the current school is still in operation, with minimal impact to student life and activities. Upon completion, the current school building would be demolished to make way for a parent drop-off lane, visitor parking and a new shop building.
Plan One is under contract with the district and paid by the state to help with the concept phase of the planning. Once land has been purchased and money has been appropriated by the state for the design phase, the district will open bids for an official facility designer. In 2018, the district will formally request appropriations to open bids for construction. Plan One has contracted with the state extensively in the past, consulting on and designing schools in Cody, Lovell, Cowley, Shoshoni, Buffalo, and the Wyoming Boys School. In addition, Plan One designed the Eleutian Technologies headquarters in Cody, and was on the team that recently renovated the state Capitol.
