Central School Update

By Theresa Doumitt

The Central School Development Venture (Randy Hafer, Developer) and Roundup Community Partners would like to share some good news about the Central School project.

The project is now 100% capitalized with all Central School Development Venture partners on board. Hafer is working with a lender interested in rural community development and finalizing the last steps in the fiscal process.

A land survey of the block will be completed in the next several weeks, and the two lots south of the school building will be donated to the City and County as previously agreed by all parties. Hafer will donate the parking lots on the southwest corner to Musselshell County to be used for parking for the Commons. He will also donate the southeast corner with the playground to the City to preserve the area for our youth. Roundup Community Partners has committed to fundraise to help renovate and renew the playground, once the property has been transferred to the City.

Some select construction on Central School will be completed in August and September by TW Clark Construction. This work will include the installation of the skylights, painting exterior wood and wood on the bell tower, work on the elevator hoist way, and removing carpeting and refinishing floors. There will be a short break in the construction in the late fall and the final phase of construction will begin in the first quarter of 2023.

Roundup Community Partners is in the process of developing a budget for the renovation of the playground. As soon as our fundraising efforts are completed and the City approves the plan, renovations to the playground will follow. Stay tuned for fundraising announcements to help support the rejuvenation of our Central School playground.

We want to thank the community for your patience and support! There have been thousands of hours of volunteer time invested in this project and Hafer and his team have been working relentlessly to ensure this project moves forward and is successful. The old Central School Elementary building was scheduled to have skylights installed in August, however, the order was delayed in delivery. Volunteers are helping to clean out the school. The playground and south parking lot will be donated to the city and county respectively, as soon as the survey is complete. Once these properties are transferred to the city and county, the Roundup Community Partners, (RCP) will begin developing a budget and doing fundraising for renovating the children’s playground. The full body construction for the old school renovation should be on track for the beginning of 2023, if there are no more delays.