CB school construction making expansion progress

Work will continue into 2026

By Kendra Walker

Construction is underway at Crested Butte Community School (CBCS) as part of the Gunnison Watershed School District’s facilities expansion and improvements project. This summer, progress has been made on the $60 million additions and renovations at CBCS, slated for completion fall of 2026, and district representatives have a plan to reduce the construction impacts on students and staff as much as possible once school starts at the end of August. 

According to John Usery of Artaic Group, the school district’s owner’s representative for the project, current construction activities include excavating the footings for the new high school addition, relocating utilities for building additions and making heating ventilation and control upgrades throughout the school. 

“This summer is really about prepping for those new foundation areas,” said Usery. “There’s a lot of underground utility work associated with that, fixing up the irrigation systems, etc. There’s a lot of leg work before you see the concrete work and beams being erected.”

Other construction activities this summer include relocating the elementary school playground and installing new play equipment. The playground relocation will make way for the new elementary school and early childhood education building addition. 

Additionally, the demolition of the old shop class and art room is in progress to make room for the new Career and Technical Education (CTE) space. “The existing Air Handling Unit has also been relocated for the new CTE addition,” said Usery. 

The art room and playground will be relocated to new locations in time for the first day of school; however, the team was not able to relocate the wood shop for this school year. “That’s the one space we’re sacrificing for one year. We looked at alternatives but couldn’t relocate it,” said Usery. “We had to tear that space down to construct the new CTE area and it wasn’t feasible to set up a new space due to the costs. But overall, the school district has been really creative about how to give students similar opportunities this year.”

The team also recently procured electrical and mechanical subcontractors, said Usery. “We just got our final set of design documents so now we are working to procure all the other subcontractor trades—drywallers, cabinetry, lighting, etc.” 

Usery said that construction will continue through the 2024/25 school year, but it will still allow for educational activities. The idea is to work on the new building additions first so that staff and students can move into the new spaces while renovations to the existing footprint take place. “We’ll be phasing out sections of the existing footprint,” he said. “The school is at capacity so we’re trying to create the new spaces and then we can shuffle kids around.” Usery said they hope to have the new building additions ready in one year, and the rest of the renovations and improvements phased out through the summer of 2026 for completion.

Usery said while school is in session, instructional space and construction will be separated from each other. “All construction will be fenced and completely separated, and crews will only be admitted into those designated areas. Everyone will have a sticker identifying them as having gone through background checks and so they’re easily identifiable as the construction crew.”

Usery said the team continues to hold weekly coordination calls with the CBCS principals. “As school goes back into session, we’ll coordinate what the week looks like for school activities and construction. If we anticipate any disruptions to the educational space, we’ll plan those activities outside of school hours,” he said. Usery also said they plan on coordinating supply deliveries outside of school pick-up and drop-off times. “Overall, the work will not impact any of the traffic flows around the schools, just the access,” he said. 

The CBCS expansion project will result in the addition of 12 classrooms, removal of the modular classrooms, new preschool classrooms, a new CTE wing, improved athletics field, an expanded and improved cafeteria and new and secure elementary and secondary school entrances.

Usery also looks forward to the improvements being made to the building’s energy usage. “We’re making a lot of improvements for more efficient HVAC systems and LED lighting. We were able to reduce the energy index of the building quite a bit. I’m excited to see those results, as well as the additional capacity and instructional opportunities for staff and students.”

And while the CBCS construction process will not go unnoticed throughout the school year, the team hopes to reduce the impacts to students, staff, administration and the entire community as much as possible. “It’s always hard with construction, there’s a lot of inconvenience we impose,” said Usery. “But after two years, we’ll be really happy with the end product for the district and the community. It’s a huge investment and we’re excited about it.”

For more information and updates on the Gunnison Watershed school improvements and expansion project, visit gwsdschools.com. The project team will also be at CBCS’s orientation night on August 22 from 5-8 p.m.