June 20, 2019
City briefed on school plans
By Jerry W. Kram
The Parshall City Council got the lowdown on the plans to improve the Parshall School District’s its athletic facility with the help of the MHA Nation Tribal Council.
Trevor Huffaker, an engineer with EngTech, told the council that MHA Tribal Chairman Mark Fox had committed nearly $10 million to the Parshall School District to create and carry out a master plan for the district’s athletic fields. Huffaker said the plan includes a second gymnasium at the school, new football field and track and other amenities.
“When we were doing the meetings for the new high school, there was a lot of interest in keeping the old gym at the high school,” Huffaker said. “We looked carefully at what it would take to do that and came to the conclusion that we could build an new gym for almost the same price.”
Huffaker said that the infrastructure in the old gym hadn’t been updated much since it was built in the 1960s. Along with work that would be needed to convert what are currently interior walls to exterior walls, the old gym’s heating and cooling system would need to be replaced because it would no longer be hooked up to the old school. Huffaker estimated that the work would cost about $3.2 million while a totally new gym would cost $3.5 million.
Trevor Huffaker, an engineer with EngTech, told the council that MHA Tribal Chairman Mark Fox had committed nearly $10 million to the Parshall School District to create and carry out a master plan for the district’s athletic fields. Huffaker said the plan includes a second gymnasium at the school, new football field and track and other amenities.
“When we were doing the meetings for the new high school, there was a lot of interest in keeping the old gym at the high school,” Huffaker said. “We looked carefully at what it would take to do that and came to the conclusion that we could build an new gym for almost the same price.”
Huffaker said that the infrastructure in the old gym hadn’t been updated much since it was built in the 1960s. Along with work that would be needed to convert what are currently interior walls to exterior walls, the old gym’s heating and cooling system would need to be replaced because it would no longer be hooked up to the old school. Huffaker estimated that the work would cost about $3.2 million while a totally new gym would cost $3.5 million.
