(Spirit Lake)– Some major changes could be in store for parking in front of the Spirit Lake schools…the high school in particular…as a result of the city’s plans to revamp Hill Avenue between 19th and 30th streets. The city plans to carry over the theme from Hill Avenue north and the downtown area, along with the installation of boulevards similar to those on Hill Avenue North. Construction on the project, which has an estimated cost of 2.2 million dollars, is to start next spring. A bidletting is to be held in December.
City officials were at Monday’s school board meeting to give an update on plans and to request a commitment for the school’s portion of the cost, estimated at roughly 300-thousand dollars.
Nancy Supernot of the Howard R. Green Engineering firm says parking on the west side of the high school would be completed re-worked so it functions well with traffic flow. She says they’re also looking at lining up accesses with new parking areas with 25th and other streets adjoining Hill Avenue.
With member Beth Will absent, the board voted four-to-nothing to proceed with the school’s share of the Hill Avenue project pending the availability of adequate funding. Superintendent Tim Grieves says as of right now the school has not allocated any money for the project. He says some options are being explored, including a possible land swap with the city, to help offset atleast a portion of the cost.
