The Ellsworth and River Falls districts are each taking on significant construction over the summer after passing referendums in 2024. Both projects are already moving along as the districts intend to get the bulk of the work done while students are away from school.

Ellsworth

When the project is completed, the high school entryway will open up to one big space with the school store and gym doors on one side and the concession stand on the other.

On the south side of the building there is expansion to create a fitness center space.

“Obviously, we’re going to look at focusing on our kids, but also the community connections if we work our way into that, if there’s a demand or a need for the community to utilize this space, obviously outside of school hours,” Superintendent Brian Nadeau said.

Nadeau said the space will be huge for both sports teams at the school and physical education classes.

On the west side there is a sizable expansion to the career and technical education space. With the expansion there will be a fair amount of shuffling rooms around to optimize the setup. There will also be a new greenhouse built on that side of the building.

“Windows on the north side just to let in some light,” Lead Custodian/District Safety Director Andrew Borner said. “We were worried if we had too many on the south and west it’d get light coming in, and blinding and shadows.”

While the expansion cuts a few parking spaces from the lower lot, plans to add a few spaces on the southwest corner of the building will offset most of the loss.

Nadeau expects the construction to be completed by the start of the school year, with the exception of a few small details that may need to be polished off.

“At this stage of the project, the benefit is the fact that other businesses and other organizations want to be a part of it,” Nadeau said. “Going forward, it will be how do we utilize this space with student-led initiatives.”

Nadeau mentioned a key thing schools need to do is put students in leadership roles, and the referendum is a step in that direction. The high school is adding a commercial kitchen and is looking to roast its own coffee to sell in the community, allowing students be part of the process actually roasting the coffee as well as the business and marketing side.

“There’s intentional collaboration spaces designed in there,” Nadeau said.

At a previous board meeting, an emphasis was placed on having students working together from classes and departments that previously would not have collaborated.

The middle school will also undergo some construction during the summer with a redesign of the locker bays highlighting the changes.

River Falls

In River Falls, the high school is seeing the bulk of the construction.

“[About] 4,200 square feet on the first floor. Other things there would include some additional offices and storage and an upgraded training room,” Superintendent David Bell said. “The second floor will be off of what is our current weight room. So, the current weight room will get updated and adjusted, and then there will be a speed and strength turfed area, that is about 4,000 square feet as well, that will be in direct connection to the current weight room.”

Bell said for safety reasons they are adding walls so the locker bays are not as open with the common areas.

“If there were a safety event, it wouldn’t be as wide open. There would be our ability to close off those areas,” Bell said.

The River Falls bus garage is getting a new building after the district purchased a house adjacent to the current garage and demolished it to build an additional garage. The new building includes office space, a break/meeting room and multiple maintenance stalls for the buses. Director of Finance and Facilities Lynette Coy said districts continually prioritize the school facilities, but it gets to a point where transportation facilities need to be improved.

“We prioritize the school buildings and the school buildings and the school buildings, and then it’s kind of a breaking point,” Coy said.

The transportation center is being built in a way that allows for a redesign of the bus storage garages if the district decides to do so years down the line.

While it is not a part of the referendum itself, the River Falls gymnasium will receive new bleachers and the basketball court will be redone during the summer. They wanted to use the opportunity of all the construction going on to get that project done as well.

Currently, high school wrestlers practice in the middle school basement, so they are excited to have space to train at their own school. The space is also crucial during winter months and days with bad weather, allowing multiple physical education classes or sports teams to have room to do what they need, which was not previously the case.

The projects are expected to be done around mid-October so everything is ready to go for the winter season.

Meyer Middle School and Greenwood Elementary School are also getting some smaller projects done. The tennis court work is also expected to be completed this summer. With projects going on throughout the district over the summer, the plan is to host high school speed and strength at UWRF.

“The tricky piece for us is trying to allow the contractors as much access as possible now so we can get the building back,” Bell said.