The Knappa School District serves a community of around 2,000 people in northwest Oregon near the mouth of the Columbia River where fishing and logging are key industries.
The school district has about 360 and 140 students on one campus in their K-8 and 9-12 schools respectively. Until PIVOT helped the district pass its 2021 bond, the only dedicated space for middle schoolers was a cluster of temporary modular classrooms. PIVOT worked with the district to set forth a plan for successfully passing the $12 million bond by connecting the Knappa community to the service the schools provide. With an OSCIM match, seismic grants, and other funding, the project budget neared $16 million.
Once the bond passed, the school district appointed the PIVOT+Fortis design-build team to design and build a new 10,000-SF gym, a new 7,000-SF middle school wing, pre-k renovations, and other improvements.
The Gym
The 10,000-SF high school regulation sized gym features restrooms, locker rooms, a mechanical mezzanine, storage, and a wood-floored basketball court with striping for multiple sports. Acoustical wall panels help absorb sound from the activities. Due to the elements of a coastal climate, external specifications were made to limit water damage to the wood floor where doors opened to the outside and provide shelter from the elements.
The Middle School Wing
With middle school students housed in modular trailers, the school district made it a priority to develop a separate middle school wing. The 7,000-SF new building was situated adjacent to the elementary school and features five classrooms, single-occupancy restrooms, a central collaboration space connecting the classrooms, and a covered canopy connecting it to the elementary school. A new elementary school entrance was created to connect to the middle school wing.
