Powell school officials will travel to Cheyenne next week in an effort to resolve several issues with the Wyoming School Facilities Commission.

At the top of the district's list is the future of the middle school, the former high school building and the auditorium/natatorium.

“We have a presentation ready to discuss what we have called ‘the mess downtown,'” Superintendent Kevin Mitchell told the board Tuesday night during a discussion.

Mitchell said the district will ask the commission to address the district's need to continue to use the lunchroom in the old high school and music classrooms in the old auditorium, and the home economics cottage, all of which require students to cross the street — a practice contrary to the commission's own guidelines.

In addition, the district is concerned with the abandonment of the classroom section of the old high school and the future abandonment of the auditorium/natatorium.

“We want to know what (the commission) is going to do with the buildings,” Mitchell said.

Complicating the situation is that new middle school enrollment projections don't dictate a new middle school building, so that project has been moved down on the commission's priority list and there won't be a new middle school in the near future, Mitchell said. Still, he said he hopes the commission will provide some method of addressing issues facing the district.

“I'm hoping for a phase-one project,” he said. “We would be happy with a lunchroom and a couple of classrooms.

We will approach it as a safety issue to eliminate students' crossing the street during the school day,” Mitchell said.

The district already received money for demolition of the old gymnasium, Mitchell said. The commission requested that the district work on a joint bid with Big Horn County District No. 3 in Greybull, which received funding to demolish its old grade school, in an effort to lower costs. Greybull's superintendent resigned last week, Mitchell said, so he will offer to assist Big Horn School District No. 3 in developing bid specifications for their part of the project.

The board also discussed whether the district should continue plans to build a new football stadium near the high school or continue to use the present one at the middle school.

Mitchell said the commission will not pay for more than one football field for the district, so funding to build and maintain a second field would have to come from the district's budget. Money to build a new stadium would have to come from the district as well.

Greg Borcher expressed doubt that a new stadium could be built.

“Unless the state comes up with money, we won't be moving,” Borcher said.

Staying in the old stadium raises several issues, however, particularly the need for dressing rooms. Last season, Powell teams dressed at Powell Middle School while visiting teams dressed at the high school and bused to the stadium.

David Northrup asked if the commission would include expanded dressing rooms in any plans for a new middle school, and Mitchell responded that he does not know. He said the district might consider funding them as a local enhancement to any project funded by the commission.

Lee Craig said if the old stadium remains in use, the district also should address the issue of parking, which he said always has been a problem for football games. He asked if the site of the old gym could be converted to parking if it was not going to be occupied by a new middle school in the near future.

Mitchell said the area would probably be graveled for the time being, and could be used as a parking area.

Mitchell also noted that the current stadium cannot accommodate an official-sized soccer field, which is supposed to be 75 yards wide, compared to 50 yards for a football field.

Mitchell raised the issue of the field-event areas in the stadium, which he said are in poor condition and present safety issues. The district advertised for bids to improve the pole-vault and long-jump areas two years ago and received no bids. Mitchell asked if the board would authorize re-bidding the project this year.

Noting that, even if the decision to relocate the stadium is made, the move will be a minimum of three to four years in the future, Craig said the work is needed and recommended that Mitchell proceed with the bid.

“It has to be safe,” Craig said.

Mitchell and other district officials will present their concerns to the Wyoming School Facilities Commission in Cheyenne on Aug. 5.