Midkota unveils new addition

Open house set for Tuesday during home girls basketball game

A few cosmetic touches are still to be applied, but the brand-new addition to Midkota High School in Glenfield has, at long last, opened its doors.

Upon the arrival of students back from the holiday break on Wednesday, Jan. 2, the recently-completed 10,500-square-foot eastern wing at MHS was officially inaugurated. It sits adjacent to the current 1964 building.

Midkota plans to hold an Open House to show off the new renovations to the general public Tuesday night, Jan. 22, concurrent with the Mustang girls' basketball team's junior high and varsity games against Ellendale beginning at 6 p.m.

Superintendent Sara Bilden said the renovations and new classroom space will provide Midkota students with a nurturing learning environment.

"We're really excited; it's so beautiful," said Bilden of the addition. "Enabling our kids to get those additional opportunities, along with providing for their safety, were really our main objectives [for this project]."

The process, which began in earnest in recent years, stemmed from the need for the district to replace the original 1914 school building on the north side of the high school campus, along with an addition dating from 1928.

Issues with the stability of the old school's foundation, along with lack of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, security and aging heating and electrical systems, meant that a new space was of the utmost importance.

Bilden said that outside observers and visitors to the original building saw that something needed to be done.

"As a community, we were really concerned about those safety issues in the old building," Bilden said. "Also, it just really wasn't an inspiring place to learn.

"Once the school year is done and the students leave for the summer break, we'll start with asbestos removal, and proceed to demolition afterwards," said Bilden.

One of the highlights of the new addition includes a sizable science lab, which Bilden says will be a boon to the district's STEM education offerings. Along with a new media center/ITV (interactive television) room, the language arts and social science departments will also move into new spaces.

As part of the project, the administrative offices in the 1964 school addition were moved to the previous location of the library, and new windows, heating and lighting systems and walls and floors have also been updated.

The project, which held its groundbreaking ceremony on May 16 of last year, is financed largely through the school's building fund and lease revenue bonds, and did not require a mill levy increase to Midkota district taxpayers. Covering the cost of the project is expected to take anywhere from five to seven years.