Officials excited to start Eagle Butte modernization, though no timetable defined yet

By Tim Kalinowski on January 25, 2018.

tkalinowski@medicinehatnews.com @MHNTimKal

Eagle Butte High School is eager to get started on its modernization, but there is no firm timeline yet on when the work will start or be completed, says principal Mark Heinricks.

“It’s been a while in the making, and we are hoping we finally get to that point,” he explains. “We had road blocks like our septic field put in place; these are just things that have happened as we began this process. We are hoping, and we are really excited if it can happen.”

Heinricks is crossing his fingers tenders for construction will go out as anticipated by the end of January. Heinricks explains most of the $6 million earmarked for the modernization will be spent on much-needed infrastructure work on the school’s envelope.

“We have lots of issues leftover from when the school was first built,” states Heinricks. “They built this school about 20 years ago for about $1 million … It’s not built like a school under there, it is built like a house on a wood frame … I mean we have had some real issues, right? We have even had plants that grow in through the walls at times.”

With the dollars that remain after the envelope is fixed, the school will only have enough finds leftover to get one new addition— an expanded shop.

“Even with our new facility it will not be a full-blown mechanic shop like the high schools in the city have,” explains Heinricks. “But the space will definitely allow for us to be able to do a few more things. We do welding, metal work and lots of woodworking. Right now it’s a small area for what we try to run, and it is highly utilized.”

Other upgrades will include creating a larger state-of-the-art classroom dedicated to cosmetology, a larger science lab, a more modern food prep. room, a better special education room and a more open and brighter learning commons. The upgrades will also include new systems to improve energy and environmental efficiency.

“This is not an addition,” states Heinricks. “It’s more like: Here’s your structure, now what do you think you can do with it within the budget you have?”

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