The Battle Ground Public Schools operations staff will soon have a brand new, safe facility to call home as construction continues north of Battle Ground High School at the central operations building.
The 23,125-square-foot operations building is funded entirely by impact fees collected from new construction in the school district.
The operations building is located along North Parkway Avenue just north of the Battle Ground High School campus. The school district anticipates the construction being completed in August ahead of the new school year.
Currently, maintenance and custodial staff are located in a 1930s repurposed bus barn that has noticeable structural blemishes. The new building not only brings modern amenities and structural safety, but also curb appeal and, more importantly, an expansion of warehouse space.
The school district first opened its 10,000-square-foot warehouse in 1979, and it hasn’t been expanded since. District staff said that before a new school year, the warehouse space is overwhelmed with materials, desks and other items needed to kick off a fresh year. Now, the new operations building will add additional warehouse space and more convenient loading and unloading capabilities.
“We have another 5,000-square-feet here, so we’re increasing 50% of our storage capacity,” Battle Ground Public Schools Director of Facilities Kevin Jolma said.
When the school district moves out of the failing converted bus barn, it plans to demolish the building, which is highly visible from Main Street. Jolma believes the next plans for the property will increase the appearance along Main Street as the high school campus sits just outside of Old Town.
“We’re going to demolish the old bus barn. It has served its purpose,” Jolma said. “And we’re going to be putting a new program there, the Futures program, which is a special ed program for 18- to 22-year-olds.”
Jolma said they plan to revise the parking lot to include additional parking for the high school, which he believes will make up for the lost parking where the new central operations building is being constructed during major events such as graduation ceremonies. Jolma added that the revisions for parking and drop-off and pick-up lanes will increase efficiency and safety. He also plans for the construction for those projects to take place in 2026.
The central operations building was entirely funded through impact fees.
“Those impact fees are created or formulated out of what’s called our CFP, our capital facilities plan, which is a six-year plan that’s updated every two to six years,” Jolma said. “You put in all your news that you foresee in the future, your buildings. This was one of them. A warehouse is one of them. … They cannot be used for teaching and learning, no salaries for teachers, supplies, repairs, only new capital facilities.”
The building will also feature a covered wash area for trucks, mowers, trailers and more with its own filtration system. Welding will also have its own zone in the buildings, so will electricians with their own shop, HVAC shop, plumbing and others.
The cost for the project is $7,273,923.23 with around $20,000 in change orders, Jolma said. The $70,000 needed to invest in a timber frame entryway to comply with city code to avoid a “big ugly blob” makes up less than 1% of the value of the structure to make it aesthetically pleasing, Jolma added.
