Foundation is laid for Plains School expansion

On a cold and frosty day last week, the foundation was laid for a new era in the history of the Plains School District.

Armed with a high-tech machine and good old fashioned hand labor, workers completed the a vital step in the construction process for a new building on school grounds that will house arts, a full size-gymnasium and other amenities.

With Plains Schools Superintendent Thom Chisholm watching and taking pictures from the rooftop of a nearby campus building, concrete crews filled the four-foot high foundation walls that will be part of supporting a large steel building that will occupy the southwest corner of school property.

“This will be an 80-foot by 120-foot addition,” said Chisholm who has been at the forefront of the project for several years. “And it didn’t cost us a dime.”

The support walls sit atop concrete footings that were poured last month. Much of the pipe work and electrical work for the new structure are in place or can be added, with the next steps being pouring a massive concrete floor and erecting steel beams that will make up the skeleton of the nearly 10,000 square feet addition.

Early last Monday, crews finished last minute preparations to accommodate the arrival of several cubic yards of concrete from Mountain Range Materials, aka Ready Mix Concrete on the north end of Plains.

Already in place was a massive vehicle from Missoula Valley Concrete Pumping. That vehicle features a tube-shaped boom capable of reaching and pumping concrete up to 113 feet, just enough in this case to carry the concrete to the far corners of the building.

Cement laden trucks from Ready Mix backed up to the boom vehicle and poured their contents into a hopper, which then fed the cement mixture through the tube.

Waiting on the other end of the high-arching boom, workers from a Missoula-based construction firm guided the mix into the waiting forms where it will sit for several days to ensure proper curing, or hardening of the mix.

Special additives and heaters allow for the concrete to be poured and aid in the curing process even in cold weather.

Also on hand were representatives of an Idaho concrete testing company to make sure the mix was proper and will be sturdy when installation of the steel beams begins next month.

The whole process is part of recent advances in concrete construction, according to Travis Campbell, driver and operator of the boom pumping vehicle.

“Not that many years ago a pour of this size would require the use of a lot of wheelbarrows,” Campbell said. “There have been a lot of back-saving changes in this business in the past several years.”

The project has already been slowed by weather-related issues, but once structural steel goes up and the roofing and siding is added, workers will be able to start on the interior aspects of the building.

Hopes are the project, which will include space for art classes, locker rooms, a full-size basketball court and the ability to host entertainment events, will be ready for use by the start of school next year.

“It’s good to see the concrete work get to this stage,” Chisholm said. “This is going to be a very good addition to the school and something from which the whole community will benefit.”

Funding for the project included federal grants and a $400,000 donation from a private citizen who attended Plains High School in the 1940s.