Mel-Min breaks ground on new consolidated campus project | Local … – Jacksoncountychronicle

Melrose-Mindoro hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for their new $24.7 million consolidated campus project, which is slated be completed by next school year.

The consolidated campus project will bring together all students in the Melrose-Mindoro School District under one roof at the current high school location. Voting on the referendum took place last November.

After residents were surprised at their property tax bills earlier in the year due to the consolidated campus project, months of contentious debates at school board meetings began.

The Melrose-Mindoro School Board decided to move forward with stage one June 12, which has neared completion, and have now begun stage two.

It has been a long time coming and Im very excited. I think its going to be a good move for the district, school board president Marlane Anderson said.

Melrose-Mindoro Superintendent Del DeBerg is excited about this opportunity to bring the two communities together, something he said was the original plan when the two school districts originally merged.

The goal was to recognize the fact that 53 years ago when both school districts of Mindoro and Melrose agreed to co-op, that one day they would have all grade levels at one site. We only get one opportunity to do this and we want to do it right, DeBerg said.

Most of stage one was completed over the summer including remodeling the high school music rooms, office area, entrance area and two English rooms. The only thing left to complete in stage one is to install the receptionist desk, which is set to be completed on Sept. 15.

Stage two recently began with the completion of the new septic system and removal of trees for a drainage pond. This stage is expected to go throughout the school year and be completed after next summer, includes connecting the existing tech ed building and high school, adding a cafeteria and classroom addition for the middle school and adding a two-story elementary addition.

It has been an exciting challenge to get the design ready, and now we are ready to start the actual construction and that brings a new challenge and a new level of excitement, so now we can really see the design come into play, DeBerg said.

To kick off the second stage of the project, many students from across several grades got to participate in the groundbreaking by participating in the groundbreaking themselves by throwing some dirt with gold-plated shovels.

We really wanted the focus on having students involved in some capacity, school superintendent Del DeBerg said.

The fact that students were able to pitch in was a great thing to see for Anderson. The young people coming up are getting a chance to be involved from the ground level.

The construction management company for the project, Market and Johnson, was at the groundbreaking and is excited about the consolidated campus project.

It is a great opportunity for us. We appreciate the trust the Melrose-Mindoro School District has put in us to help them with the project, Craig Namyst, project manager with Market and Johnson, said.

As a part of the project, Market and Johnson works to find local subcontractors to do parts of the project.

When we put these projects out for bids, we look for local talent as it were to help out with the project, Namyst said. ACT Concrete is doing all of the concrete work for the project. They are based out of this area. A lot of their kids go to school here. We just work hard to try to pull whatever talent we can out of the area.

With the groundbreaking complete, DeBerg is excited for the open house planned for next year once the upgrades to the school have been completed.

Continued here:
Mel-Min breaks ground on new consolidated campus project | Local ... - Jacksoncountychronicle