CRESWELL – On Monday afternoon, a few dozen folks gathered at Creswell High School to turn the soil for the school’s new career and technical education building. The 20,000-square-foot building was donated to the school by R&M Steel, a company based in Idaho.
Bethany Scovil showed attendees to the school’s commons area, where the school district superintendent, Mike Johnson, and CHS senior CTE student Lance Risdal, gave speeches before the groundbreaking ceremony commenced.
“Today marks more than just the start of construction. It represents the vision and the support of communities that will lead deeply into the future of a student. The new CTE building will expand opportunities for hands-on learning experiences and help prepare our students for success in the years ahead. We are grateful to the many people who helped bring this mission to life, and we are excited to celebrate this milestone together as we officially break ground on projects that will serve Creswell students for generations to come,” Scovil said.
Risdal discussed his work lobbying for the creation of the school lot that will house the new CTE building. He said he went door-to-door asking folks to vote yes for the Creswell school bonds.
“Because of that, we succeeded in passing the school bond at over 70%, which is now a record for the Creswell School District,” Risdal said. He also said he serves on the bond oversight committee, which includes the new building.
Johnson explained how the building came into Creswell’s hands. Early in the design phase, Johnson reached out to other superintendents to ask what companies they used for construction.
When he spoke with La Grande superintendent George Mendoza and learned they had recently built a steel CTE shop, he reached out to the same company. R&M Steel, based in Caldwell, Idaho, offers complete manufacturing service of pre-engineered metal building systems.
Through chats with Mendoza, Johnson learned that R&M Steel donated the CTE building to the La Grande District. Johnson spoke with the owner, Rob Roberts, and received an estimate of $17.5 million for their 20,000-square-foot building.
“I said ‘we can’t do that, we’re going to modify it to about 14,000 square feet,’” Johnson said. After talking with the owner for a few months about the design, the school’s strategic plan, and how CTE facility improvements keep coming up from student voices, the owner wanted to learn more about the design of a 20,000-square-foot building.
“We were talking on the phone for about two hours about that vision, and he had a lot of questions about it. I said, ‘Well, Rob, that’s all great, but can you help us out with some of the cost on this?’ He said, ‘Mike, I love your vision. We’re going to give you the building.’” Johnson said.
Johnson said it took a while for it to sink in that the company would cover the cost of engineering, fabrication, and delivery of the steel building. Once it arrives in mid-April, Johnson estimated it to be erected by May or June, with programs ready to convene in the fall.
The new building has three shops, each around 3,300 square feet, which are larger than CHS’s only existing shop.
There will also be three lab rooms in the new CTE building. Current CTE students, school board members, and elementary and middle schoolers – future CHS students – grabbed a shovel and took turns turning the soil where the future building will stand.
“This building will be here longer than I’m alive,” Johnson said. “This celebration or the ceremony was to see those littles in here with the seniors to pass the baton.”
