Inlet View Elementary School opens new building for students

A rebuilt Inlet View Elementary in Anchorage welcomed students into a new two-story building with updated safety features and room for more pupils; the project cost about $50 million and was funded through bonds and a legislative appropriation.

The new Inlet View Elementary School building in Anchorage opened to students after more than a decade of planning and debate. Teachers and the principal prepared classrooms while workers finished last details the night before students arrived. The previous 1957 building lacked a sprinkler system, a cafeteria and a gym and had ongoing repair problems. Local neighbors and some school officials disagreed about rebuilding versus repairing and about the project’s cost. Key details: - The new two-story building opened with steady indoor temperatures, functioning facilities and a full gymnasium available for the school’s students. - The school serves 181 students on opening day and now has capacity for 289 students; the old building had a capacity of 170 but at times housed more than 200. - Inlet View hosts the state’s only elementary International Baccalaureate program, and students from across Anchorage enter a lottery to attend. - The rebuild’s final cost was about $50 million, funded by two separate bonds and a legislative appropriation after earlier votes that both approved and rejected different bond measures. - The district faces an $83 million budget shortfall next year, a circumstance school officials noted alongside the school opening. - The new building is designed to higher safety standards, including sprinklers, a secure vestibule and measures intended to withstand a magnitude 8.0 earthquake; an open house is scheduled for Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. Summary: The new Inlet View building provides more space, updated safety systems and additional classrooms compared with the old 1957 structure, and it opened to students this week. The project’s funding history and final cost drew debate among neighbors and some board members, and the district is managing the opening while also preparing a balanced budget amid a reported $83 million shortfall.