Dig it

UPPER SU VALLEY — No one wanted to sit in the metal chairs formed into a semi-circle in front of a vacant foundation Friday.

With the temperature hanging just below 20 degrees, who could blame them?

So, as a couple dozen people, mostly Mat-Su Borough School Board officials and some state politicians, stood and tried to keep warm, the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School began. The event marked a significant step in returning Su Valley students to a brick and mortar building, letting them escape the cramped portables they’ve been learning in since their former building burned down in June 2007.

Standing behind a podium with a self-contained speaker built in, Superintendent George Troxel heralded the progress toward a new Su Valley school building. He especially thanked officials from Collins Construction for laying the groundwork for the school before freezeup.

Construction work at the school has slowed a bit now that winter weather is affecting the site. The school’s construction began over the summer shortly after the contract was awarded to Collins Construction.

In a recent report to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, Borough Manager John Duffy said Collins has begun to secure the site and protect all work completed this fall. Even as work slows a bit, Borough officials say they’re confident the project is progressing at a good pace, and Duffy noted that, weather permitting, vertical construction will continue once structural steel arrives.

It didn’t seem to matter just how far along the building process was Friday to the excited people in the crowd, and a group of students from Su Valley showed their enthusiasm by singing the school’s fight song.

Since their school burned, Su Valley students have been attending classes in portables on the Su Valley Senior Center’s property.

On Friday, it took a short jaunt across the Parks Highway for students to get to the site of their new building.

The crowd even began to warm to the ceremony when the group cheered “Go Rams” to the beat of drums.

The Su Valley school, located at about Mile 98 Parks Highway, is often far from the minds of most who live in Palmer and Wasilla.

Driving north from the Valley’s core area, buildings taper off and are replaced by trees and periodic cabins on the side of the road take over for fast food and big box stores found in Wasilla. But even at that latitude, the area where Su Valley students get their education is still in the Mat-Su Borough.

Jim Colver, the school board’s newly elected president, made it a point to remind folks of that.

“Our Borough is one big family,” he said. “And your community is part of that family, not a distant relative.”

Shortly after Colver spoke, school board members, Tom Kluberton from the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, state Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, and state Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, took up golden shovels and chucked some dirt. With every shovel of dirt thrown, flash bulbs erupted and cheers rang out until the display was over.

Shortly after, the students who came to sing walked quickly toward the gate. But a few stayed behind and had their own fun contributing to the project.

Juniors Jens Timmers, Genna Moses, Ariel Moore and Madison Maynard got a chance at the golden shovels as well. The students said they were looking forward to a new school and hoped it would be finished before they graduate.

The exact date of the new school’s opening is still unknown, but Collins Construction has an incentive in the form of a bonus if it beats its completion deadline of December 2009.

In an interview before the groundbreaking, Su Valley Principal Rob Picou said his students are waiting anxiously for the school to be finished.

“The anticipation is in the air with every truck that drives back there,” he said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.