Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The new North Routt Community Charter School finally is becoming a reality.

After receiving a Building Excellent Schools Today grant from the state’s Capital Construction Assis­tance program, having it rescinded and being awarded the funding again, the $4 million school’s official groundbreaking is scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon.

School officials will break ground during a ceremony at 3:30 p.m. near 54705 Routt County Road 129 on land it will share with North Routt Preschool in Clark.

Charter School board member Roy Powell said that preliminary site work actually began about a month ago but that today’s ceremony is “very, very exciting.”

He said years of planning and developing went into the new 12,600-square-foot facility, which will triple the existing school site on C.R. 62 and serve as a community center outside school hours.

It will allow the school to expand to serve about 100 students, an increase from 70.

“The need for the school was created by the community there,” said Powell, also a member of the Charter School’s Capital Construction Committee. “The demand for the school had really exceeded its current facilities.

“So the need to grow and expand for that was natural. We are a small (organization) dealing with a very big project for us.”

In fall, the Charter School was awarded a $3.2 million grant, which required $800,000 in matching funds. The school was previously awarded the grant, but the Capital Construction Assis­tance Board rescinded the grant after much of the match, a larger portion at the time, was secured with a bank loan.

The Assistance Board also expressed concern that the charter school had proposed to build on land it didn’t own, an issue that since has been addressed. The Stranahan family, of Clark, made available for $60,000 a portion of the land where the preschool is located.

Powell said the Charter School hopes to occupy the new facility by January.

The new school will have six classrooms, offices, space for a school nurse and a large community gathering space.

It will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified.

“I think this is going to be a facility that’s going to meet the demand in that community for years to come,” Powell said.

— To reach Jack Weinstein, call 970-871-4203 or email jweinstein@SteamboaToday.com