Cheney school to break ground

Cheney Public Schools will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday to kick off construction of the district’s new elementary school.

The school, at the corner of Hallett and Holly roads, is yet to be named.

The project was approved by voters in 2010 when the district put a $79 million bond on the ballot. Those funds are being used to build two middle schools, and state matching funds are being used for the elementary school, Superintendent Larry Keller said.

The elementary school will alleviate crowding in some of the district’s other elementary schools. Windsor Elementary was built to hold 400 students but currently has 650. Keller said that school has been relying on portable classrooms to deal with the overflow.

The new school will be built to serve 500 students. Keller said he expects the school to open in the fall of 2013.

While the elementary school is just beginning construction, Keller said the two new middle schools are well on their way to completion. They are both slated to open this fall, one directly behind the current Cheney Middle School at Sixth and Betz and the other near Windsor Elementary.

“They are on schedule,” he said, as well as on budget.

Keller said he has heard that state Rep. John Ahern will be in attendance at Friday’s ceremony. He has also invited Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove, City Administrator Arlene Fisher and Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp.

The district’s director of maintenance, Jeff McClure, will attend, as well as representatives from NAC Architecture, contractors Leone and Keeble and the district’s construction and project management team, OAC.