FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 1997
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company has agreed to temporarily loan three double-wide modular trailers to Butte County School District 111 to assist the district with a classroom shortage for the 1997-1998 school year.
Janet Aikele, Butte County superintendent, last month requested Lockheed Martin Idaho officials donate or loan any unused buildings to the district. The district faces a crisis situation following an electrical fire last April in Butte High School. An inspection following the fire identified 22 pages of code violations within the 50-year-old building and the school board was forced by state and local fire marshalls to vacate and condemn the building. The students attended school in split Clients with Butte Middle School and overflow classes were held in the Baptist Church, Recreation Hall and Arco Elementary School.
The trailers being loaned to the district will be moved from near the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to Arco at the district's expense. The district will also pay the moving expenses to return the buildings to the INEEL at the end of the building loan. The loan contract must be renewed on a yearly basis and can be cancelled with 30-days notice if LMITCO needs to use the portable trailers for INEEL-related work.
Phil Sanders, director of Logistics for LMITCO, says several unique circumstances allowed the company to assist Butte County with this emergency request. "We were able to help Butte County because loaning Department of Energy property that is temporarily out of service and not excess is in support of our contract requirements. These assets are not excess because there is a potential future need for the short term capacity these type of trailers provide. Since the borrower of property has to pay for all costs to remove and return, and incurs liability for the assets, Arco's proximity to the site will keep their costs down. A long move could have made the loan too costly for the school district."
Gary Braun, LMITCO Facility Operations manager, said this loan to Butte County schools support's LMITCO's commitment to both the Department of Energy and the community to support local area charitable and civic causes. "We are glad to be able to temporarily help the district provide classrooms for students."
"Thank you, Lockheed Martin, for being our 'port in a storm.' The mobile trainers that we are borrowing are coming to us in better shape than the building we were forced to vacate," says Aikele. "Because of your generosity, Butte County High School students can continue their education here in the Lost River Valley."
The district plans to move the portable buildings to Arco during the summer. School starts in the district the first week of September
Media contact: Teri Ehresman, 208-526-7785
Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company
P.O. Box 1625 MS 3695 Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3695
Telephone 208-526-1693 Facsimile 208-526-5034