A look at the capital projects — big and small — that Eagle County School District has been working on this summer
Many of the larger capital improvements are supported by the district's $100 million bond
The Eagle County School District has been digging into numerous capital projects as it prepares not only for the start of the school year on Tuesday, Aug. 20, but for the future needs of the district, its students and staff.
Aside from some of the regularly budgeted and planned maintenance projects, many of the larger capital improvements are supported by the district’s $100 million bond passed by voters in the November 2023 election. The district sold the bonds earlier this February.
From school-specific repairs and improvements to new construction and infrastructure, below is a rundown and update on some of the district’s latest expansions, replacements and improvements.
Expanding the Edwards Early Learning Center

In 2020, June Creek Elementary School in Edwards shuttered due to enrollment and budgetary issues. The building was then transformed into the Edwards Early Learning Center in the fall, providing two infant classrooms, two toddler classrooms and 10 preschool classrooms.
At the time, financial limitations precluded the district from renovating the building’s second floor to meet necessary early childhood standards.

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Now, leveraging funds from the bond and an $850,000 federal grant, the district is going back to expand and maximize its use of the existing facility. The work will nearly double the facility’s current capacity, enabling it to serve between 290 and 320 students, according to Sandra Farrell, the district’s chief operating officer.
The project will be completed in two phases, the first of which started this August and will go through November 2024. The first phase, budgeted for $2.92 million, will encompass exterior improvements, including adding a West drop-off area and parking lot as well as a new playground.
The school district contracted TAB Associates as the project’s architect and Haselden Construction as the general contractor.
The second phase is scheduled to start this November on the building’s interior, with construction expected to wrap up by July 2025 as it works around ongoing operations, Farrell said. This phase is estimated to cost $3.1 million, with a contract anticipated in October, she added.
The interior improvements will include renovating existing rooms to meet state licensing requirements as well as adding restrooms and air conditioning.
Once complete, the early learning center will have three infant classrooms, four toddler classrooms and 17 preschool classrooms.
Building an employee housing and early learning center in Gypsum
A school district project in Gypsum will aim to meet both the growing need for early childhood education downvalley as well as a valley-wide need for workforce housing. The new developments would be located on the district-owned IK Bar property between Red Hill Elementary and Gypsum Creek Middle School.
The planned project will include “ground-up construction of a new two-story, 50,000 square-foot early learning center for up to 320 students,” Farrell said, adding that it will include infant, toddler and preschool classrooms.
The property will also include “ground-up construction of a three-story, multifamily building with 20 apartments,” she added. There is the potential that a second apartment building could be constructed as well.
The school board approved one apartment building at its Wednesday, Aug. 14 meeting, but has yet to approve the budget for the second building. According to Farrell, the potential for the second building hinges on “pending water rights and budget constraints.”
There are three approved phases at this point, but should the district approve the second building, there could be an additional “3A” phase.
The first phase began this month and will wrap up in December, encompassing the necessary site work (including utility work) for the early learning center and housing. The district approved a $12.81 million contract for this phase of work in July.
At the same meeting, the school board approved the $25 million second phase, which will include the construction of the Gypsum Early Learning Center. Construction on the new building is expected to start this November, with completion targeted for the end of 2025 or early 2026, Farrell reported.
The third phase will include the construction of the first apartment building, with construction scheduled to begin in December. Completion is expected in early 2026. On Wednesday, Aug. 13, the board approved an $11 million allocation for the building.
The bond covers 100% of this project so far, Farrell said.
Should the district move forward with a second apartment building, construction would be expected to start in January 2025, with completion also in early 2026.
The district has contracted TAB Associates for the project design and architecture, and Haselden for the construction of the early learning center and housing.
Constructing workforce housing at Maloit Park in Minturn

The district is also pushing forward on a project in Minturn that could bring up to 138 units of workforce housing to Maloit Park.
It first started revisiting the Maloit Park housing development in 2022. Since then, the district has pushed forward on the entitlement process for the site, with the board approving a $258,000 budget to initiate the process in November 2022.
In October 2023, the school board approved the initial plans to be submitted to the town of Minturn. The plans include the construction of 138 units of housing: 38 duplexes, 52 townhomes and 48 condo units.
It also called for the removal of the 15 mobile homes before the start of construction. However, following advocacy from the mobile homeowners and residents, the board altered the plans in June 2024 to allow for the majority of the residents (14 out of 15) to stay in their homes until vertical construction begins on the site. Taking this alternate route added $96,000 in costs to the project.
Currently, while pricing is in process, the district is on track for utilities and grading work on the new residential development to start in the spring or summer of 2025, Farrell said. This work is expected to include initial infrastructure construction including roads and laying utilities such as water, drainage and more.
Farrell previously told the Vail Daily that $7 million from the bond proceeds would go toward this horizontal infrastructure.
Building a new space for nutrition services and technology

Next to the Red Canyon High School campus in Gypsum, the school district has been building a new 10,000-square-foot building for its nutrition services and technology departments. This will include offices and training rooms for the technology department as well as frozen and dry storage for the district’s food supply. Construction will also include a loading dock.
Work began on the $4.5 million project in March 2024, with completion expected by March 2025. The district contracted Buildings By Design for the construction.
Investing in school security
Part of the bond ask of voters included allocations for enhancing safety and security in the district. As such, in November 2023, the district contracted a third party to conduct a safety, security and emergency preparedness assessment to review policies, procedures, facilities and overall safety of all campuses that comprise the school district.
The top recommendation from the report was for the district to appoint a full-time director of safety and security. In February 2024, the school district announced that Tad Degen, a former Eagle County school resource officer and law enforcement officer, would assume such a position.
Since coming on board with the district, Degen has conducted his own walkthroughs and evaluations of the district buildings as well as taken a look at the recommendations from the 2023 assessment. Part of his role is determining how the $5 million from the bond allocated toward safety and security should be spent.
So far, Degen has received board approval for the purchase of 280 new radios to improve communication and operability district-wide (with a cost of $146,600), new cameras to increase video coverage as well as some new doors to increase security at certain locations (costing around $167,000), as well as for the installation of shatter-resistant coating on certain school windows (with a cost around $203,000).
Degen told the Vail Daily that aside from these projects there is “nothing else major at the moment” scheduled in terms of additional facility upgrades and improvements.
Making school-level enhancements
In addition to some of these larger infrastructure projects, Superintendent Philip Qualman shared a list of the improvements schools had scheduled or completed over the summer.
“Not only is there construction on Highway 6 and pretty much every other road in the county, but our facilities department is doing a ton of work to update our schools,” Qualman said. “Our schools will be spic and span, and ready to rock and roll here in a few weeks.”

One of the larger projects on the list is the replacement of the turf field at both Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley high schools. At its Aug. 14 meeting, the board approved a $3.4 million contract with Rocky Mountain Turf Solutions for the work.
The work will include “the replacement of both football fields with the addition of shock pads under the turf, refinishing both running tracks, turfing the infields of both baseball fields to accommodate softball use, and installing turf on the utility/practice field,” according to the meeting agenda.
At Homestake Peak, the building’s exterior stucco was recently repaired and the old wooden fascia was replaced with brake metal, according to Joe Reen, the district’s executive director of maintenance and facilities.
Over the summer Eagle Valley High School got new asphalt, with sealing work done at the asphalt at Brush Creek Elementary School, Edwards Elementary School and Eagle Valley Elementary.
The district also recently put in temporary barriers in the Battle Mountain parking lot as it works “to mitigate cars driving too fast throughout the parking areas,” Reen said.
Additional maintenance projects include:
- In September, the district will relocate the Edwards Early Learning Center playground (as it undergoes construction) to Edwards Elementary School
- Brush Creek Elementary School’s carpet was replaced over the summer
- Nine windows were replaced at Avon Elementary School
- The district’s West bus barn was repainted
As it looks ahead, the district could also be seeking to make energy improvements and electrify its buildings. It recently applied for Colorado’s Public Building Electrification grant to “fund the energy audit or analyses required to evaluate the electrification opportunities and determine the electrification equipment type and sizing for the implementation portion,” Farrell said.
So far, the district has applied for the planning grant and would look to apply for the implementation grant depending on the outcome, she added.
“We are currently reviewing the schools that would best fit this recommendation,” Farrell said.
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