School Principal Michelle Patterson kicked off the Jan. 7 grand opening ceremony with a welcome to the students and community members who gathered to mark the event. “Today, we continue all of the greatness, all of the respect, and all of the responsibility that the Otis Bulldogs are known for,” Patterson said. “Today, we smile with pride and accomplishment for all the Otis community has delivered in its commitment to Otis Schools and to its students. Today, we celebrate all that our school has been and all that it will become.”

Funded primarily through the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program, as well as through a partial district match, the new $19 million facility replaces and consolidates the previously separate elementary, junior and high school buildings into a streamlined, sustainable and state-of-the-art learning environment. Due to the community’s small size and student population, the design allows all levels to share important resources, such as computer labs, art classrooms and special education spaces. However, each level is also divided into separate 8-classroom wings with flexible learning areas.

Thanks to green features such as a geothermal system, extensive daylighting and the use of both local and recycled building materials, the project is pursuing LEED Gold certification. President of the Otis School Board of Directors Paul Davis called the new facility “the most technologically advanced school in northeast Colorado.”

The previous Otis High School was built in 1922, while the existing elementary was completed in 1985. Over the years the district also added several supportive buildings and spaces, including a gymnasium, agricultural shop, library and locker rooms. The most recent addition to the community’s educational infrastructure was completed in 2009. That project added 2,500 square feet to the existing elementary school to create space for the preschool program, which up to that point had been contained to mobile units adjacent to the main building. That recent addition was also retained in the new design.

The new facility was designed by the Denver office of Wold Architects and Engineers and was built by Adolfson & Peterson Construction (A&P) with offices in Aurora, Colo. JVA Incorporated of Boulder, Colo. was the project’s civil engineer, while BKBM Engineers of Minneapolis provided structural engineering expertise. ME Group of Denver served as the electrical engineer on the project and Lafayette, Colo.-based Design Concepts managed the project’s landscape design.

Preconstruction on the phased project began in May 2013 and the A&P team hosted a topping out ceremony in April 2014. Construction wrapped up right on schedule in late 2014, despite 30 weather delay days.

Tom Stone, a project executive for A&P, commented at the grand opening on how the project was “all about family, community and making good on your promises.” “We are proud to show our commitment to the Otis community and are happy for their new place to call home,” Stone added.

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BEST has been a significant source of school construction funding since its creation in 2008 by the Colorado state legislature. The program is funded by a share of revenues from state school trust lands and a smaller amount of Colorado Lottery revenues.

The grants have helped many schools get the funding they need for projects that range from building schools, campus renovations and maintenance issues.

This year there are 48 districts, 12 charter schools, one board of cooperative educational services and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, requesting state funding. The requests seek a total of $297.7 million in state funding and promise $142.1 million in local matching funds.

The board will decide which schools are the most in need and deserving of the grant funding — but as of now they haven’t decided how much state money they will commit to. Reports from EdNews Colorado say the funds could be as low as $130 million, which could leave many districts without any BEST funding.

BEST grants have helped fund schools from districts across Colorado, but its main focus is on funding for rural areas that often times have outdated facilities and are in need of serious repairs but lack the necessary monetary means. The BEST 2011-12 fiscal year report showed rural areas received 38 percent of BEST grant funding while urban-suburban areas received 14 percent.

As of January 2012, BEST has provided over $674 million in grants out of approximately $1.7 billion requested by districts. Those grants have helped fund 237 projects and 147 schools across the state.

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