Groundbreaking Oct. 24 for new Su Valley High

UPPER SU VALLEY — A ceremonial groundbreaking is scheduled for Oct. 24 at the site of Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School.

Mat-Su Borough School District spokeswoman Catherine Esary said the event will take place at 2 p.m. at the school’s site on the west side of the Parks Highway just before the Talkeetna Spur.

Students at Su Valley have been learning in portable classrooms set up on property owned by the Su Valley Senior Center since a fire destroyed the former Su Valley school building in June 2007.

Construction began on the new Su Valley school this past summer and crews have been working to get groundwork finished before freeze up, Borough officials have said.

Borough Assemblyman Tom Kluberton, who lives near Talkeetna, said construction of the school seemed to be progressing nicely when observing the progress last month.

“Things are definitely moving along,” Kluberton said. “They’re working their hearts out over there.”

In an e-mail, Borough Pubic Works Director Keith Roundtree said the contractor, Collins Construction, is “making good progress.”

“He is in a holding pattern at this point awaiting the arrival of the structural steel, which is due to arrive an be on site early November,” Roundtree said.

The Borough is also still in negotiations with insurance company Allianz and is trying to come to an agreement over just how much insurance money the Borough will get for the old school.

“Our goal is to have a final number from them,” Roundtree said.

Allianz has claimed it should only have to pay what the old, burned-down school was worth, Roundtree said. The problem with that is the previous school was out-of-date by today’s standards and the new, more modern school under construction costs more.

Roundtree has said it wouldn’t be prudent to rebuild the school the way it was with the money initially offered.

“It’s almost like apples and oranges,” Roundtree said. “We won’t redo the building as it was.”

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