An unofficial vote count of 10,315 to 9,976 follows ten days of counting regular, mailed, early, absentee and provisional ballots. Mohave County Supervisors are expected to officially canvass the results Monday.

“Voters have approved a bold, new endeavor that’s been several years in the making,” said CRUHSD Superintendent Riley Frei. “It is an opportunity to bring world-class educational opportunities to our area at the same time we develop a public/private partnership that will be a major economic development jump-start.”

Frei said the Colorado River Events Center can become a business hub for Bullhead City, Ft. Mohave and Mohave Valley. He said it means additional business for Laughlin, Needles and Golden Shores/Topock.

”Communities that shine not only attract new businesses and tax bases — but new residents and families. And this project will create local and regional private sector construction and sub-contractor jobs,” he added. “Your Events Center will be more than an athletic arena. It will generate revenue by hosting events, revenue that can help increase teacher salaries to more competitive levels. It will be a magnet for regional and state scholastic events that currently require our students to travel many hours just to compete. And it will house classroom space for our growing Career and Technical Education programs. CTE trains students for both college tracks and non-college occupations. CTE graduates become important and productive members of our community.”

The bond also includes upgrades at Mohave and River Valley High Schools. Most of that work is expected to start next year and be undertaken in earnest when school is out in June and July, depending upon the timing of the bond sales. Event Center construction is estimated to take about 16 months.

Frei said the District will move forward in a transparent manner with open houses and informational sessions, in addition to regular updates at monthly CRUHSD school board meetings, open to the public.

“There are not enough words to thank the business, civic and community leaders who shared the vision, the CRUHSD school board which voted to place it on the ballot, and the Mohave County voters who agreed that it is important for the District to move forward,” Frei noted. “We also appreciative the hard and tireless work of County Elections Director Allen Tempert and his staff, all of whom worked for days to deal with delays beyond their control.”