Ready for More: Blooming Prairie school project is nearing completion
Published 8:16 pm Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Blooming Prairie’s new gym is nearly complete and it is anticpated to be open before the end of September. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie schools have been going through a major overhaul this summer. The classroom construction should be nearly complete by the time the school year starts. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s new gym is nearly complete and it is anticpated to be open before the end of September. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie principal John Worke looks at a revamped computer lab in BP Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Construction crews have done a lot of work at Blooming Prairie schools this summer. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
A room in the fifth and sixth grade wing is almost ready to go at Blooming Prairie schools. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Blooming Prairie volleyball team holds practice as construction on the school goes on in the background in BP Monday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie will feature a revamped libary this fall. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – It is just over a week from the start of school in Blooming Prairie and a summer full of renovations are still finishing up.
The commons are full of materials, rooms are being finished up and the Awesome Blossom volleyball team is holding a full practice as work on the cardio room is happening directly behind them.
“Some of the construction workers are like on our team now,” BP head volleyball coach Gina Hendrickson joked after the practice.
As originally planned, BP’s gym will not be ready until late September and the new auditorium will not be open until late November, but the rest of the school is on track to be ready for students when school begins on Sept. 5.
“There has been a lot going on and we’ve had a lot of great help,” Superintendent Chris Staloch said. “People are going above and beyond to help. We’ve utilized some of our athletic teams and our student council to move some things. Our janitorial staff has been doing a great job of keeping track of everything.”
The $27.9 million dollar addition to BP schools was approved by a referendum in November of 2021, and it will offer more learning space in the elementary, along with improved facilities for STEM, the arts, and athletics.
“We’re just excited. We’ve been planning this for three or four years. We’re excited about the project and we’ll have a lot more space to work in,” Staloch said.
Some classrooms will have temporary walls in place until late September, but most of the interior renovations to the school are wrapping up.
The first day of school always brings anticipation and wide-eyed students walking through the hallways and this year will bring heightened joy to BP as the school turns towards the future.
“We’re on track to complete the work on our high school and elementary buildings by Sept. 5,” Staloch said. “We’re doing a final clean in the elementary over the next couple of days and we’ll be ready to rock when school starts. In the high school, we’re still finishing our Ag Industrial Tech area and our arts rooms. Those will be the last rooms before school starts.”
