Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Trees and brush lay where they were cut on May 12, by loggers working with Angelo Luppino Inc, the construction company building an overflow parking lot at Hurley K-12 School. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June.
TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley - An expanded parking lot at Hurley K-12 School will nearly double the number of parking spaces to help deal with overflow at events and add a needed second exit from the campus.
The school board discussed the need for the extended lot earlier this year. Community officials and first responders had informed board members that special events and sports events at the school throughout the year results in overflow parking along the narrow entrance road and creates a barrier for emergency vehicles.
"The Hurley School District continually looks for ways to enhance the interior as well as the building and grounds, in not only providing a safer environment but one that remains modern and best meets the needs of students and the community," said Kevin Genisot, administrator of the Hurley School District. "As funding becomes available, whether it's through the annual budget or through generous organizations like the Hurley Education Foundation, we will continue to progress and make positive changes."
The lot is designed specifically for event overflow and will be used less frequently than the regular lots. The existing lots hold 165 parking spaces and the new 160-by-320-foot lot expansion will add 133 additional parking spots.
The overflow lot will be located at the north end of the existing north parking lot near the gymnasium. Part of the treeline that separates the campus from Range View Drive was removed for the project.
The Hurley School Board awarded the $139,000 low-bid contract to Angelo Luppino Inc. construction company, for the excavating and blacktopping of the parking lot expansion project. A change order approved at the May 18 meeting to use recycled crushed asphalt as opposed to blacktop for the expansion lot reduced the project cost by $55,752 to a new project total of $83,681.
The work started a few weeks ago when Luppino brought in a logging company to clear the mostly aspen and other trees on the site of the expansion lot, Genisot said. The work also created a second exit from the lot onto Range View Drive.
"The new exit will be used all year long as it will alleviate traffic congestion during high-use times," Genisot said.
The school used a drone aircraft that was purchased for the science department with funds from the Hurley Education Foundation to provide aerial photos of the proposed parking lot expansion site and the entire campus. The site photographs were presented to the school board for information to assist in the decision to go ahead with the expansion lot at the chosen site.
The project is expected to be completed before the next school board meeting in June, Genisot said.
