At this time last weekend, I was looking at the parking lot and beautiful playground of CFS and feeling a bit shaken. Getting the school hooked into the sewer proved to be a challenge and a mess! The stub for public sewer is located on Dickenson – just north of our parking lot and the school’s plumbing wasn’t all tied together in a way that made it easy to connect. On top of that was the discovery of a water line which feeds two neighboring houses (but not the school) in the same trench that needed to be excavated for the sewer line to avoid further damage to the parking lot. Compounding the difficulties is the incredibly rocky soil of our fine Rattlesnake Valley. Wow! – wow there are some enormous boulders in there. So, last weekend, as I inspected the giant gashes and piles of rubble, I wanted to run for the hills. I am still hearing phantom excavator-track squeals, beeping and crashing; I couldn’t even take pictures.
I am now happy to report that Clark Fork School is now connected to the public sewer system. This may not seem monumental, but I think it’s been a topic and anticipated ordeal for the school since the property was purchased in 1993 – it’s only a small detail in the overall scope of our expansion, but I am happy that future CFS members won’t need to deal with a failing septic system. And, if anyone ever wants/needs to know what lies beneath the grounds of Clark Fork School, I now feel more knowledgeable about that topic than I ever wanted to be.
So, after a week’s efforts by Troy and Jim of Trymark Excavation, things are really starting to take shape around the foundation and I am feeling ever so much more confident that the playground can and will be made functional – and even inviting – for our youngest CFS students returning to campus just after Labor Day. The site-work (mostly on the west so far) has included the foundations for new pathways leading up to the building’s entrances, nice grading to add functionality and interest to the outdoor areas surrounding the new construction, and just generally dealing with the transitions between new and existing areas (there’s actually a pretty significant elevation change on the property that I hadn’t really noticed before).
One of the most challenging and fun parts of planning this new space has been to consider all of the uses and elements that make the outdoor space of our campus unique and adding new features while maintaining the character that those of us around the school know and love. Once the basic structure is in place, there are going to be a lot of places where the community’s creativity and efforts can refine and personalize the grounds for enjoyment and learning possibilities for our kids – and that’s really the whole point –right!?
Anyway, for those of you that visited the site week before last, and for the teachers witnessed the carnage, I appreciate your continued patience and positive thinking – everything will come together. I hope you come back for a visit in the next week or two to get a new perspective. We will be trying to reach people for some work party evenings to get some things back into place – inside and out in the upcoming weeks – so stay tuned and thanks ahead of time for your involvement in a parent cooperative!
