Land swap sets stage for new west side school

by Carol Crump
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:04 PM MDT

The Natrona County School District is ready to move forward on a new school next to the under-construction CY Middle School.

If all the hurdles can be overcome, a 38-acre site on Casper’s west side could possibly be the location for the district’s fifth high school.

The proposed site is located in the Mesa Addition, adjacent to the 21-acre site of the new CY Middle School, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010.

The deal is the result of a land exchange that was approved by the NCSD Board of Trustees on June 22, without “a dollar of school district money engaged in the process,” said Associate Superintendent Mark Antrim.

Although the land exchange is nearly done, there is no plan for a school on the drawing board and funding from the Wyoming School Facilities Commission hasn’t been secured.

Why the swap?

NCSD had owned a 38.6 acre parcel adjacent to the west side Wal-Mart for years, according to Antrim. The district had lost interest in using it for schools because of its proximity to the large commercial developments and 24-hour parking lots at Mountain Plaza and Wal-Mart.

“It was a tough piece to put a school on,” said Mesa Development’s Randy Hall of the irregular shaped acreage.

The land exchange will give the district enough additional land suitable for a new school, without any cost to the state for property.

“The School Facilities Commission (SFC) is reasonably excited,” Antrim said, adding that there already have been extensive discussions with the city, Wyoming Department of Transportation and the SFC about traffic issues.

Access to CY

Part of the development plan for the area includes a new north-south access from the site to CY Avenue to help ease congestion on Wyoming Boulevard.

As a condition of the city’s replat and rezoning of the exchanged land, the first part of Central Drive will be constructed. The new road segment will connect Central Drive to Pheasant Drive to take advantage of the signalized intersection on CY.

Funding is secure for Central Drive and construction on the new road should start within the next month, according to Mesa Development representative Keith Tyler.

The replat and zoning of the new school district property was forwarded by the Planning and Zoning Commission to the Casper City Council for their approval.

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