New school to be built at Wasson & Cemetery

At a special elector’s meeting held Aug. 30, River Falls School District residents in attendance voted unanimously to grant the district authority to execute a lease agreement for a new Renaissance Charter Academy building. The lease agreement is with RF REN PROJECT, LLC with an initial lease term of 20 years. The 10,800 square-foot building will be located at the corner of Wasson Lane and Cemetery Road, next to the storage unit facility. “Anytime a school district is going to purchase land, sell land, or in this case, lease property, it requires approval from the general electors,” said Superintendent Jamie Benson. “This is for a very special and unique high school called the Renaissance Charter Academy, an alternative school that serves about 60 students.” The school provides a rigorous curriculum tailored to students’ career interests or needs, smaller class sizes, and a community feel. Students who might not thrive in a traditional high school setting have another option to receive an education. The Ren, as it’s affectionately called, has its roots in the old Academy building on Fremont Street. It then moved to PR’s Place on Was son Lane, but a mold problem forced them to move out. UW-River Falls formed a partnership with SDRF and allowed the Ren to be housed at Hagestad Hall on the UW-River Falls campus. But soon, Benson said, that will be torn down to make way for the $115 million SciTech building. “We need to get out of their way for that to happen, so temporarily we’ve worked with the city, we appreciate their partnership, and so in late December we’re going to have to go temporarily to the old police station,” Benson said. “We need a permanent home. We need a place for this program to call home. We need it to be a more permanent solution.”

The school district has been searching for a permanent solution for the last several months, he added. Several options were considered such as: An addition to the high school A vacant building in the Whitetail Industrial Park which would have required a renovation Another vacant building in town Building on the district’s FFA ag property, which currently has no utilities or infrastructure in place Renovating the old police station at 125 E. Elm St. to make it a permanent school Space at the Small Business Innovation Center (1091 Sutherland Ave.) in the Sterling Ponds Business Park Finally, the district landed on the option presented Aug. 30. Benson listed the advantages of the agreement: A brand-new building that will be constructed to the district’s specifications and standards. “It will be a school, not some warehouse turned into a school,” he said.

Block away from the main high school Close to UW-River Falls and Chippewa Valley Technical College for course options Option to purchase the building in the future The 20-year lease comes with the option to purchase the building as soon as year two. The lease agreement costs about $19.65 a square foot with a 2% annual increase.

“In the district because we want this to be a school built to our standards from the ground up, the district is investing $880,000 as a part of the build up,” Benson said.

Following the electors meeting, of which Elaine Baumann was chair, the school board unanimously approved the lease agreement.