Local Video
|
| Prairie Creek plans for $2.2 million expansion |
By: DAVID HENKE, Staff Writer
|
Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:06 pm
|
 Email  Print
|
NORTHFIELD — After several delays, Prairie Creek Community School is nearly ready to break ground on a new, $2.2 million expansion project, officials say.
The two-part renovation and expansion of the school is expected to nearly double the existing square footage and increase Prairie Creek’s enrollment by 60 students. Currently, the school has 120 students enrolled.
According to Prairie Creek Community School Director Caroline Jones, the renovation and subsequent expansion of the school were prompted by a growing number of applicants and high student retention rates. Although they can admit 20 Kindergartners each year, Jones noted, between 35 and 40 students usually apply.
“We felt that there were a lot of children out there that wanted this kind of education and also deserved it,” Jones said.
The expansion will add roughly 8,500 square feet to the existing 11,000-square-foot building, and will include three new classroom spaces, a gymnasium/performing arts space and the reorganization of the arts and administrative spaces within the school.
Originally, funding for the project was to be provided in part by Eureka Township. When it was determined that the township was not eligible to provide financing for the school, however, members of Prairie Creek Inc., a nonprofit organization affiliated with the school, turned to the city of Northfield’s Economic Development Authority for help.
Last Thursday, the Northfield EDA granted preliminary approval to issue $2.2 million in bonds. According to Rick Estenson, the chair of the EDA, issuing bonds is not a financial obligation for the city. Instead, the city acts as a conduit through which Prairie Creek Inc. can gain access to lower interest rates, which will eventually be paid back in full by the nonprofit.
Final approval for the conduit financing hinges on approval from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, but will likely come by next Thursday, Estenson said.
Besides bonds issued by the city, renovation of the existing school building will be funded by a $500,000 grant from the State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grants program.
“I think it’s good for our community to have good education sources for our families and our students and that there’s no liability on the city,” Estenson said. “I don’t see a downside for us.”
— David Henke can be reached at dhenke@northfieldnews.com or 645-1100. |
|
|
|
Story Comment Guidelines:
Registered members who identify themselves by name are authorized to automatically post comments to stories. Readers who wish to remain anonymous submit comments to a pending queue, where they will be reviewed for approval within 24 hours of their submission. To determine the author of a comment, click on the user name.
Those who identify themselves will be given broader boundaries to express their opinion. Only those anonymous comments that contribute to the conversation in a thoughtful, respectful, civil manner will be approved. The decision to approve or reject a comment is a subjective one and is ours alone. Authors of rejected comments will receive an email response.
If you would like to report abuse click here to notify us.
|
|
| Show Comments | Hide Comments
|
|
| Login and voice your opinion!
|
|
|
|
|
Top Jobs | Top Homes | Top Cars
09 Jetta
09 white Jetta asking $16,000
less than 48,000 miles
|
|
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
MySpace
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!
