Paving the way for smoother MMK parking

Crews are paving the way for smoother, and drier, parking at Mary M. Knight Schools.

Employees of Granite Construction are replacing the gravel driveways and parking lots for the two Matlock schools with asphalt. In late April, the Mary. K. Knight School Board awarded a $630,000 contract to the Olympia-based company for the project, expected to be completed before school begins in September.

Since the school's opening in 1972, staff, students and visitors have grappled with a gravel parking lot filled with mud puddles.

The project will "re-establish" the drainage pipes in the parking lots, said Superintendent Matt Mallery. "We get a lot of water up here," he said.

The new asphalt parking lots will provide a better surface for emergency vehicles, and less dirt will be tracked into the schools, Mallery said. It will look better, he added.

Also, "it gives us a good fire break if we need it," Mallery said.

Three inches of asphalt is scheduled to be laid on July 25. Then the parking lots will be striped, and two ramps installed.

The new parking lot in front of Mary M. Knight Elementary School will feature angled parking, handicapped parking and a ramp into the school.

The student play area, which was a patchwork of asphalt and concrete patches, will be asphalted. A water retention pond was dug near the entrance to the parking lots. An access road will be paved from the bus parking garage to a one-room portable used for storage.