KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
The Kodiak High School renovation and construction project officially kicked off on Thursday with a groundbreaking ceremony. The event included KHS band members playing the school fight song, as well as representatives from the board of education, city council, borough assembly and Kodiak’s legislative delegation. KMXT’s Brianna Gibbs was there and filed this report.
At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, students at Kodiak High School were wrapping up their final days of school and gearing up for the start of summer vacation. Meanwhile, in a small ceremony outside, community members gathered for the official start of something else – the high school renovation and construction project.
“And so here we are at the groundbreaking of a project that has been in the making many decades," said Superintendent Stewart McDonald. "And I want to thank everybody that was ever a part of having a vision and pushing it forward.”
McDonald, along with Architect Tony Yorba, Borough Assemblywoman Chris Lynch and School Board Member Norm Wooten, took the ceremonial first shovels.
“You know it feels just like the beginning," McDonald said. "Although a lot of work into this to get here, the most important work begins now and keeping costs down and finishing the project and fulfilling all the educational specifications is the primary focus. So, it feels good to be here and now the real work is in front of us.”
In April the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly approved a $62 million construction contract with Watterson Construction Company of Anchorage for the renovation and construction project.
