News Track: Linn-Mar breaking ground on 5-year facility plan

2024-07-14 17:40:02

Construction continues July 8 on the Linn-Mar Community School District’s administration building, which is part of a five-year facilities plan, in Marion. The new building will increase the space for the superintendent’s office, information technology, nutrition services, conference space and storage and make way for the current administration building to be remodeled, including adding classrooms. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

MARION — A five-year facility plan for Linn-Mar schools that began in 2022 included construction of a new administration building, a larger performance venue and an indoor athletic center added to the high school, among other projects.

The cost estimate for all the projects at the time was between $48 and $60 million, which included design fees, construction costs and equipment expenses.

After the new administration building is finished this fall, the plan is to renovate its former space at the Learning Resource Center, 2999 N. 10th St. in Marion, as additional space for Linn-Mar High School and for other academic programs.

The Learning Resource Center was built in 1948 when 17 one-room rural schools joined together to become the Marion Rural Independent School. It was renamed Linn-Mar in 1959. The center currently houses the administrative offices for the district as well as the COMPASS Alternative High School and Venture Academics Program, a project-based learning program.

Funding for the five-year plan will come from the following streams:

Public education and recreation levy, or PERL, a small property tax levy that can be used for public recreation areas such as playgrounds and tennis courts.
Physical plant and equipment levy, or PPEL, which can be used to improve school buildings and grounds, purchase technology and safety equipment and implement energy conservation measures.
Funding from Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, or SAVE, an existing sales tax that can be used for school infrastructure.

What’s happened since

Under the facility plan, an eight-court tennis complex was completed earlier this year. It’s located adjacent to the existing baseball and softball facilities at Oak Ridge Middle School. The final cost for the tennis complex was about $1.7 million.

This September, the new administration building for the district will be completed, increasing the space available to the superintendent’s office, information technology, nutrition services, conference space and storage. The cost for the administration building, under construction on the property of Excelsior Middle School, 3555 10th St., Marion, is estimated to be $13.1 million.

Construction continues July 8 on the Linn-Mar Community School District administration building, which is part of a five-year facilities plan, in Marion. Other parts of the plan include a larger performance venue and an indoor athletic center for the high school. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

The Learning Resource Center also will undergo some remodeling as former office space becomes classrooms. The center already houses the district’s project-based learning program called Venture Academics and alternative programs called COMPASS and ATLAS, which is a program through Four Oaks for at-risk youth.

Some traditional high school classes also will be housed at the Learning Resource Center, which is located across the parking lot from Linn-Mar High School.

Mark Hutcheson, director of High School Teaching and Learning and director of Venture Academics, said up to 400 students will be using the Learning Resource Center this fall.

“Our students are having great experiences and even more they’re engaging in learning. We want them to leave with outstanding knowledge and skills they can take wherever they go,” Hutcheson said.

Elyssa McDowell, Venture Academics strategic partnerships coordinator, said the program needs the extra space. About 300 students are registered for the program this fall — significant growth since its launch in the 2021-22 school year with 90 students.

“We’re looking forward to having more room to spread out,” McDowell said. “With project-based learning, a lot is happening. It’s less students facing the teacher during a lecture and a lot of groups doing research together, prototyping, and meeting with community partners.”

The Learning Resource Center’s remodeling is estimated to cost is about $1.34 million and includes:

Improvements to the building’s fire suppression system
Removing walls to transform office space into classrooms
Upgraded electrical work to better support the technology needs of a modern classroom
And increased access to water resources in classrooms that teach subjects like biomedical science.

Finally, construction of the new performance venue began this spring near Linn-Mar High School’s existing auditorium. The new space will be better suited to accommodate both school and community use. It is expected to be completed in fall 2025 and cost about $28.4 million.

The current space has limited the district’s ability to host more events for students in intermediate and middle schools, school officials say. The new space will expand seating capacity from 833 to up to 1,200.

In the spring, the district had more than 60 events scheduled in the auditorium and Little Theatre, two of its current auditorium spaces. Eighty percent of those events currently scheduled are associated with the high school, and only 20 percent are activities for intermediate and middle school students.

“Our district’s vision was to ensure our physical spaces continue to enhance our students’ academic and extracurricular experiences at Linn-Mar, and we look forward to inviting our public into these new spaces as they are completed,” said Linn-Mar Chief Financial/Operating Officer Jon Galbraith.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com

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