Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 10.19.16

NEWS
Bigfork High School Renovation Ahead of Schedule Crews making quick work as excitement continues amid $14 million makeover
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
BIGFORK — On a recent Friday eve- ning, Rick and LouAnn Baird sat inside the new wing of the high school, mar- veling at the historic transformation. The husband and wife both graduated from the original two-story high school in the early 1960s and have remained closely tied to the community institu- tion, including Rick’s 26-year tenure as librarian. Now their two daughters both teach in town.
The Bairds were among the group of
community members who rallied together to support a $14 million makeover of the high school, the largest renovation since the 1960s. Last fall, voters passed a bond approving the work, which will add an estimated 30,000-square feet to the facil- ity and upgrade existing space. The addi- tions include a new community room for all types of local events as another way to welcome residents into their lone high school. After basketball season, crews will turn their attention to renovating the gymnasium, among other nal phases.
“This is wonderful. I can’t stress
enough how grateful we are that the com- munity came together and overwhelm- ingly passed this (bond),” Rick Baird said.
“It was desperately time.”
A year after the bond passed, crews with Hammerquist Casalegno are ahead of schedule, with the eight new class- rooms slated for completion this winter.
As with the residents who supported the bond, the team building the school is invested in making the project a success.
“I feel a lot of ownership,” Mark Casa- legno, co-owner of Hammerquist Casa- legno and a lifelong Bigfork resident, said.
“I went to school here and my kids went to school here. My wife’s parents went to school here.
“I feel like this is my community duty. It makes it a lot more personal.”
School superintendent Matt Jensen said there will be a community tour in December to show the progress of the new work and keep the excitement building.
“We just want the community to cel- ebrate this,” he said. “It’s their school. And it’s something to be excited about and proud of.”
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
Bigfork Conservation Group Celebrates Grassroots Success Group leader Dave Hadden re ects on community impact, looks to future activism
BY CLARE MENZEL OF THE BEACON
A controversial 581-foot-long, 16-foot- wide bridge stretches from Flathead Lake’s north shore over cold, clear waters to the private Dockstader Island. It casts a shadow over a stretch of lake that was once a peninsula and provides a resting spot for a gallery of birds. But the struc- ture, which some residents consider a blemish on the lakescape, may soon be torn down and the north shore’s untar- nished visage restored.
On Sept. 16, in a case brought against Flathead County and its board of county commissioners by the Community Association for North Shore Conser- vation (CANSC), Flathead County Dis- trict Judge Robert Allison ruled that the bridge’s permit is invalid and ordered the removal of the bridge.
As required by the Lakeshore Protec- tion Act, it is the county’s duty to seek public comment on “signi cant” con- struction projects along the shoreline.
But the 2011 county commission deemed the project “minimal,” so the permit was approved without public noti cation or review — a decision that conserva- tion-minded locals have protested ever since developers began construction in 2014, and a decision that Allison has now o cially ruled as an error.
CANSC formed in early 2015 under the leadership of Dave Hadden, director at Headwaters Montana, who lives near the bridge site, to protest the develop- ment. In 2015, the group led suit against the county, alleging that the commission unlawfully issued the bridge’s permit. The group considers the ruling a victory, as well as the lasting momentum and community engagement that CANSC has been able to rally.
In fall 2015, the group gathered more than 100 local citizens on the beauti- ful lakeshore, where they stood in front of the initial construction, holding up two massive banners that read: “Signif- icant?” “Absolutely.”
“That spoke volumes to us about how broadly the community was concerned about this issue,” Hadden said. “It was really gratifying that the community came out and stood behind us. It wasn’t just us (the leaders); it was the commu- nity ... This really is a community vic- tory — the concern people showed on this issue, it was really strong.”
CANSC has now expanded its con- servation e orts beyond the Dockstader bridge to include making lake access o Holt Drive in Bigfork more user-friendly, and conserving north shore wetlands, the largest wetland complex on Flathead Lake. The part-watchdog, part-conserva- tion group’s four-pronged mission state- ment now includes monitoring develop- ment activity along the Flathead shore, preventing inappropriate development, serving as an information conduit for the public regarding issues a ecting the lake, and enjoying the beauty of the lake without harming it.
“All of us have day jobs, and it’s really
just grassroots,” Hadden said. “We’re a Bigfork-based group, but the support we received is valley-wide. What does that mean for the future? We just don’t know. We’re all spread pretty thin ... but it’s fair to say that, based on the amount of work and e ort, those involved are going to remain vigilant.”
They also plan to see the Dockstader bridge ght to the very end.
“We have to assume, at this point, that the developer may appeal, so we have to prepare for that and this issue is not over,” Hadden said. “And secondly, the bridge has not been removed yet, so we have to be there to make sure that happens.”
Allison did not set a deadline for bridge removal in his decision, and if the developer, Jolene Dugan, does decide to appeal, the order to remove the struc- ture would have to be stayed until the Supreme Court ruling is handed down.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Allison told the Beacon.
clare@ atheadbeacon.com
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