Ice a cool addition for Su Valley

PALMER — Parents, students and staff from Susitna Valley Jr./Sr. High School walked away from Wednesday’s school board meeting with a little more than they asked for. The school board approved a design for a replacement campus then unexpectedly told the architect to add a hockey rink to the project.

Trustee Jim Colver made the motion, saying the 50,750-square-foot school’s campus should have everything it needs, especially if it turns out 30 percent of the eventual construction cost may have to be approved through a school bond issue.

“Let’s get it done now — because we have to go to the voters — and put the hockey rink in,” Colver said.

The new school’s cost is not known yet, but district officials heard last night the current project as designed could run up to $17 million. The design also incorporates a “media café” in place of a traditional library, something that drew an objection from Board Trustee Colleen Hamblen, the sole vote against accepting the design.

Hamblen was also uncomfortable with a climbing wall, a feature embraced by the Su Valley community during a lengthy planning process, calling it a potential legal liability.

Su Valley Athletic Director Jimmy Sickler said the news about plans to build a rink is good, but Sickler isn’t counting any chickens until he hears them chirp.

Su Valley has about 180 students and averages about 15 players a year on its hockey team. Practices and games were all played indoors in Wasilla until an outdoor rink in Talkeetna, 14 miles away from the school’s Sunshine campus, could be flooded and the ice groomed. The next home games in Talkeetna are Dec. 14 and 15 against Nikiski, Sickler said.

About a dozen people from the high school community made the long drive to Palmer for an hour-long presentation and hearing on the design.

Architect Michael Carlson said the campus is designed to hold up to 225 students. The planning process, which included months of meetings with students, was aided by the community’s enthusiasm about the project, he said.

“Typically, there were a lot more demands and needs than square footage,” Carlson said. “Everybody was cooperative and passionate at the same time.”

Instead of a traditional library, the center of the campus features a media café with tables on the outer rim and books and computers on the inside. The computer area can be secured, but Carlson noted that the school faculty and administration are aware that a book or two might go astray in the unlocked portion.

“All the kids I’ve talked to are really excited about it,” Carlson said of the media center design.

Hamblen said food, drinks, books and computers don’t mix, and the school would be better served with a more traditional library setting.

Board President Sarah Welton weighed in on the cautious side about the design, noting that her daughter and she both enjoyed Snowshoe Elementary School’s open library setting years ago, but things have changed. That library now has walls and architects should have a plan in case the open library system doesn’t work in the long run.

Welton also noted that the community chose the media center design and supports it.

Trustee Sandra White added that, overall, most of the new school’s design is “pretty classic.”

Construction on the new Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School is set to break ground May or June 2008 and open for students for the 2009-2010 school year.