Addition to double Keewaydin School

See construction plans at Jan. 19 meeting

by Tesha M. Christensen

Keewaydin School, the upper campus of Lake Nokomis Community School, will double its space next year during a $16 million building project.

Between 39,000 to 45,000 square feet will be added, likely on the south side of the building. While the district has also considered building out on the east side, many community members have expressed concerns about losing the baseball fields there.

Building to the south will mean the playground, basketball courts and pool will need to be relocated; they are currently on Minneapolis Public School land, as is half of the Keewaydin community center building. There is empty space on the east side of the Minneapolis Parks building because the tennis courts were removed from there several years ago. The parks department plans to move the playground to that space.

Keewaydin Principal Jane Ellis wants community members to know that the school is trying to be respectful of their needs, as well as of parent’s and student’s. One of the items in the plan, bump-out curbs on 30th Avenue, is meant to ease a long-standing complaint by residents about congestion on that road when buses are picking up and dropping off students.

The details of the building project are still being worked out. Many focus group meetings were held in December, as was a community meeting on Dec. 15. Another community meeting is slated for Jan. 19 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Minutes of each meeting are posted on the school’s web site. For those that can’t attend the meetings, there is a form on the school’s web site to fill out.

At the meetings, parents, students, teachers and community members shared items to add to a wish list. From there, the ideas went to the construction site team, which then passed them onto the steering committee. The final decision on what the addition will look like rests with the school board, which will vote on the plan in March.

Right now, Ellis anticipates that the existing facility, built in 1928, will continue to house the classrooms while the new section will have the multi-use and arts space.

After evaluating the various wishes  of all stakeholders, the architects will create a plan. A tentative design will be presented to the community at the Jan. 19 meeting.

“It really is about matching needs with spaces,” Ellis stated.

The school district has identified the 83-year-old building as deficient in a number of areas according to state and national standards. At 2,500 square feet, the gymnasium is the smallest in the city, noted Ellis. The new space will be 7,000 square feet, not including gym storage and office space. (See sidebar for more details on what will be included in the building project.)

“I feel that a gymnasium for the middle-school grades is critical,” noted Jay Larson, a Nokomis East resident with two children at Lake Nokomis Community School. He is also a member of the construction site committee. “Students that are interested in high school sports (and beyond) must have the opportunity to prepare for these sports during middle school.  I also know that students who are interested in band, choir or symphony prepare for high school during these middle school years.  Currently, Keewaydin is unable to offer these opportunities due to the fact that these spaces do not exist.”

The goal six years ago was an addition that would incorporate a community center, Ellis noted. To provide additional multi-purpose and gymnasium space, as well as make renovations at Keewaydin’s sister school Wennonah, Keewaydin had asked the school board for $24 million.

Although the plan has changed, the building will be arranged in such a way that Minneapolis parks could opt to add on in the future. This is not currently in the parks department five-year plan, however.

“The idea is that much of the new space being built will also be available for evening and weekend for community education use and for park and recreation use,” noted Larson. “I feel strongly that my neighbors and area residents will benefit from the new spaces that are being built.”

Ellis pointed out that the district hasn’t invested in capital projects in the last nine years. The last big project was at Burroughs in 2002.

The district plans to solicit bids on the Keewaydin project in April, with construction commencing in June 2012. Most of the work will be done by August 2013. During the school year next year, Ellis anticipates that students will move around some in order to accommodate the building project. Some work, such as tearing out the wall between the old and the new, will be completed on the weekend.

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SIDEBAR

PIECES OF THE PROJECT

By remodeling the existing building (10% of project) and adding on (90% of project), Keewaydin will be brought up to state and national middle schools standards. The most critical Educational Index Improvements that are being addressed include:

• Gymnasium: 7,000 sf

• Gym storage and office: 800 sf

• Performance spaces: 4,600 sf

• Lumch room spaces: 5,817 sf

• 2 Science classrooms: 3,000 sf

• 2 Computer labs: 1,800 sf

• Vocal/music classroom: $1,500 sf

• Offices: 1,000 sf

• Estimated cost per square foot: $365-380

• Proposed project budget: $16 million

Story printed in the January 2012 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.