Colorado town spending $95 million to expand schools, upgrade safety

January 24, 2024

The Gunnison Watershed School District (GWSD) in Colorado will use $95 million to upgrade security, improve playgrounds and add more classrooms at four of its seven schools. Voters approved the projects as part of a 2022 bond package. Construction will begin this year.

The district will spend $55 million to upgrade Crested Butte Community School, a project that calls for building more classrooms to expand the school’s capacity by one-third. Other upgrades include improving the HVAC system, creating special education and STEAM spaces, expanding the cafeteria and renovating the science lab.

Plans call for spending $29 million on Gunnison Community School to expand the cafeteria and kitchen and make the playground and main entrance safer. The district will install an HVAC system, install classroom temperature controls, renovate the library and increase STEAM space flexibility.

The district will spend $9.3 million on Gunnison High School/Pathways to build safer entrances and expand career readiness facilities. Plans also call for a $2.8 million Lake School project that includes making the school’s entrance, traffic flow and playground safer.

Districtwide security upgrades include $6 million to install CCTV cameras and monitoring software. Other additions include installing interior push lock buttons that allow teachers to secure rooms from the inside and door monitors to alert staff to propped-open entry points.

Gunnison is located 200 miles southwest of Denver.


Strategic Partnerships, Inc. can provide information on contract opportunities, plus existing and future government funding. For more information, contact research@spartnerships.com.


Paul Stinson

Paul Stinson has more than 15 years of journalism experience, including a decade covering the legislative and regulatory affairs of Texas, South Africa, and Germany for an affiliate of Bloomberg, L.P. His experience includes covering voting rights and the sectors of environment, energy, labor, healthcare, and taxes. Stinson joined the team in October as a reporter for SPI’s news publications, which include Government Contracting Pipeline, Texas Government Insider, and the newly-launched Government Market News. He is also a Fulbright Scholar to Germany, and an Arthur F. Burns Fellow. He holds a master’s in journalism from Indiana University.   

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