Sletten To Manage School Construction

At a special board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the Glasgow School Board heard presentations from two major construction firms, Sletten Construction of Great Falls and Swank Enterprises of Valier and Kalispell. Each company wanted to be the construction manager for the $18.6 million project to replace Irle School, enlarge and improve East Side and refurbish the locker rooms and kitchen at the high school.

“There is a guaranteed maximum price,” said Shane Swandal, one of the school district’s owner’s reps. “We want to select the efficient best team for the district.”

Both firms emphasized using qualified local contractors for as much work as possible.

When the interviews were over, Sletten was the unanimous choice of the board. They moved to have contracts issued right away.

The construction manager will join in the planning and design process early on, making suggestions to save money and presenting the costs of options so quick decisions can be made.

“We will save hundreds of thousands of dollars by doing great preconstruction,” said Matt Laughlin, Sletten’s project superintendent.

The board has been forewarned that when ground is broken this fall, all the plans won’t be finished. The CM and the design team will be working out the complicated plans for rebuilding Irle School while they remodel East Side and the high school, slotting the projects together.