LOLO — A record voter turnout finally got the Lolo School bond passed on Tuesday -- and school officials couldn’t be happier.
After multiple failed attempts, the Lolo School District has passed a bond that will see them move into a new school. It's something that officials here say they are extremely excited for.
"We are really excited. It's going to be great for the community and it's going to be really great for kids and staff to have an appropriate safe place to learn," Lolo School District Superintendent Dale Olinger said.
It took three tries to get the bond passed but a change to the proposal may have helped this time.
"It has been a long time. This is our first time actually putting the full school -- the full K-8 -- on the ballot and that may have been what caused it to pass," Olinger observed.
What’s next for the project now?
"Two things that will happen parallel. The board is going to look at how to proceed with selling the current site to get a good value for the community and get that process rolling as soon as they can," Olinger explained.
"And we are also going to start looking at the next steps for the construction which is going further into design and those type of things," he added.
There's still a lot that needs to be done before construction can actually begin on the new school which will be located on Farm Lane -- on flat land and away from US Highway 93.
Olinger expressed how thankful he is for the community support because of the price tag on the project which is over $22 million.
He also said finishing the design aspects might take a little over a year, they expect the bid process to begin next winter.
