People stand in the temporary Kaktovik gym tent installed earlier this month. – Flora Rexford
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November 25th 2:51 pm | Alena Naiden 
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Construction of a temporary gym in Kaktovik is underway but still behind the basketball season.
The tent for the temporary gym is complete, but the crews still need to install lighting, heating and flooring, said City of Kaktovik Mayor Flora Rexford.
“It’s still on the gravel, so it’s not really ready for the kids to use yet,” she said. “I wish we could use it right away.”
The village lost its gym in 2020 when a fire devoured the 50-year-old Harold Kaveolook School. The new interim school opened in September 2020, but two years after the fire, students still don’t have a gym.
When the North Slope Borough Assembly traveled to Kaktovik to hold an assembly meeting earlier this fall, students came to the meeting holding signs urging officials for action and asking, “When are we going to have a gym?” Some of the students also wrote letters to the mayor, highlighting the issues the lack of a gym is causing, volleyball coach Carey Halnier said.
After the end of that meeting, the assembly doubled the size of the pad and made sure that work was started.
“It was that assembly meeting, and that next morning, the gravel guys were there, laying gravel and flattening out the ground,” Halnier said.
The temporary tent was purchased by the North Slope Borough, as a dedication from the mayor to the kids and the people of Kaktovik, said Steve Cropsey, director of maintenance and operations with the North Slope Borough School District.
However, it is not yet clear when the temporary gym will be complete, said Scott Szmyd, chief administrative officer with the North Slope Borough.
“We’re waiting to get more materials in right now,” Szmyd said. “I’d love to have it done but right now. I’m getting everything together, and COVID still destroyed our supply chain.”
Szmyd said he expects an update on the material delivery this week.
“We’re moving forward – nothing has stopped,” he said.
Training for basketball season should be starting now, Rexford said. Without having a proper gym or a temporary structure, students will probably practice in the interim school, she said.
“My wish was kind of happening now because winter is already here,” Rexford said.
Meanwhile, the school district is working on rebuilding Kaktovik school and a permanent gym, Cropsey said. The district presented four schematic drawings to the community at the last community meeting, and now the architectural firm is reviewing the comments from the public. Revised schematics will be presented to the community in January, and the final design is scheduled to be presented in March.
After the design phase is complete, the district plans to work on soil remediation this summer and start construction as early as in the season of 2024. The construction is expected to last about three years, Cropsey said.
The first phase, which includes a new gymnasium, is estimated to cost about $46 million. The district has about $27 million and needs to find the remaining $22 million.
While typically most of the school district funding comes from a North Slope Borough bond issue, the new Kaktovik school project is so expensive that the district will most likely need to ask the state of Alaska for support, Cropsey said.
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Construction of a temporary gym in Kaktovik is underway – Arctic Sounder
