ST. CROIX FALLS, Wis.—General contracting firm Kraus-Anderson has completed $13.5 million in additions to St. Croix Falls High School, located approximately 50 miles east of Minneapolis just over the Wisconsin border.

The marquee piece of the addition is a 21,000-square-foot fine arts center, which will seat nearly 600 people in its music and performing arts auditorium. The fine arts center will be home to several performances by St. Croix Falls’ arts and music programs as well as visiting ensembles to stage musicals, concerts and various other performing arts. Group learning will also be feasible in the performing arts space, thereby freeing up additional space on campus for other purposes. A partnership is being established between the school’s performing arts center and the city’s Civic Auditorium.

Other pieces of the addition include a 6,400-square-foot fitness center that will be perfect for group classes and sports events. The space will also be utilized for extracurricular training and provide extra storage for the physical education department.

The third part of the expansion entails a 300-square-foot “wash bay” that will be adjacent to the existing garages that service the district’s buses and official vehicles for maintenance purposes.

The additions were designed by DSGW, based in Duluth, Minn.

“There is no greater reward than successfully completing a K-12 construction project knowing the end result will have an immediate and long-lasting impact on both the educational and extra-curricular opportunities afforded to all students,” Mike Phillips, Kraus-Anderson’s project manager for the St. Croix Falls High School project, said in an email sent to School Construction News. “I am extremely proud of the St. Croix Falls administration, KA’s project team and DSGW Architects, and cannot wait for the students and community members to experience their new space.”

DSGW’s other education-related projects include the 66,030-square-foot Duluth Public Schools in Duluth and the 84,940-square-foot Spero Academy in Brooklyn Park.

The St. Croix Falls High School project first broke ground in April 2021. It represents just one part of Kraus-Anderson’s “Summer Sprint,” which the contractor pushed through in its bid to complete as much educational construction work as feasible before the winter months mothball such efforts until the spring.

Kraus-Anderson, founded in 1897, offers services in construction management and real estate development. The firm operates from its Minneapolis headquarters but also has offices in Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester in Minnesota, as well as other locations in Milwaukee and Madison in next-door Wisconsin and one in North Dakota’s capital of Bismarck.

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MOLINE, Ill. — Moline High School’s 62-year-old auditorium has a new look and name—the Bartlett Performing Arts Center.

On March 7, more than 150 members of the Moline-Coal Valley School District 40 community gathered to celebrate completion of the 47,000-square-foot facility. This new center will not only create opportunities for students; it also benefits the entire Moline community and Quad Cities region as an education and entertainment venue.

“From the classrooms to the multiuse and performance spaces, from the set shop to the theater rigging and technology, we now truly have a state-of-the-art area for the arts and we’re thrilled to share such a tremendous facility with the community,” says Moline High School Principal Trista Sanders.

Designed by Legat Architects, which has offices in Illinois and Ohio, and built by Iowa-based Russell, the Bartlett Performing Arts Center stems from a partnership between Moline-Coal Valley School District and the Robert E. Bartlett Family Foundation.

Patrick Brosnan, president and CEO of Legat, recalls that throughout the process they asked, “‘What’s right for students? How does it fit the curriculum? How does it fit the community?’ The answers to these questions influenced everything from the seats and flooring to the ceiling and infrastructure.”

The rejuvenated 6,700-square-foot auditorium now features 800 stadium-style seats and all-new audiovisual systems.

“Theatergoers in the back of the old auditorium had trouble seeing the stage and hearing the performers,” says Legat Project Manager Jeff Sandberg.

“The renovations significantly increase the floor slope to create excellent views from every seat in the house, plus the new systems provide crystal-clear sound.”

This “sound shaping” was modeled by Legat’s consultants (Schuler Shook, Talaske, Advanced Communications), which found the ideal slope and shape to maximize the experience of every audience member.

The renewed auditorium has four large wood veneer “clouds” that stretch between the stage and the back wall to further improve acoustics. Every surface in the new theater is shaped to allow a person in the back of the theater to hear someone on stage speaking in a normal voice without a microphone.

Handicap upgrades were also done to improve seat-to-stage accessibility and designated seating areas for people in wheelchairs. Supporting spaces include an adjacent scene shop with garage doors that open directly to the stage and outdoors, a new dressing and makeup rooms, and storage.

A highlight is the new river-inspired lobby, which is part of the 12,500 square foot addition. It winds between the Performing Arts Center’s two entries and separates performance and instructional spaces. A curving glass wall encourages lobby activity and helps to build anticipation for the evening’s performance.

During the Center’s open house, many guests admired the curving stone wall in the lobby. Inspired by Moline’s location between two rivers, this “river wall” starts outside the building and runs the length of the lobby to connect both entrances.

Part of the project is the addition of a multipurpose room that doubles as a black box performance space. This room, equipped with a small stage and audiovisual/lighting systems, hosts smaller performances and practice sessions when the larger auditorium is booked. Dance, cheer, and other groups can also use the black box for rehearsals. Offices, practice rooms, and storage spaces are located between the classrooms.

The Performing Arts Center was named after philanthropist, arts enthusiast, and businessman Bob Bartlett, a figure who devoted much of his time and resources for the betterment of Moline and its residents. His influence can be seen in everything from establishment of the John Deere Classic (charity golf tournament) and sponsorship of nursing student scholarships to donations to institutions such as schools, Two Rivers YMCA, and the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley.

At the dedication ceremony, Dr. Deborah Bracke, chairman of the Robert E. Bartlett Family Foundation sums it up best by calling the new center a “vital hub of creativity and engagement; a state on which our hopes and dreams for the City of Moline can be achieved.”

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Arnhold Hall is home to the university’s jazz school and it will soon house the Mannes College of Music, currently located 70 blocks away in the city’s Upper West Side. Mannes will occupy roughly 39,500 square feet within the building and will use specific materials, colors and graphics to give it a more distinct architectural identity within the shared space. Mannes’ 300 students will enjoy new custom built classrooms, practice rooms and performance spaces all outfitted with state-of-the-art sound technology, as well as enhanced opportunities for collaboration with other New School divisions. As Mannes Prep students as young as four years of age will also be using the new facilities, spaces will be flexible and accommodate a variety of programs and learners.
The renovated facility will also become the new home of The New School for Drama, as well as a unique “glass box” theater on the ground level. This glass-encased venue will allow passersby to catch a glimpse of the performing arts action from the street.

Establishing these new classrooms and practice and performance spaces will require the first through fourth floors of the Arnhold Building to be largely gutted. The top floor will undergo an extensive renovation and upward expansion in the project’s second phase to accommodate an orchestra-sized practice room.

Deborah Berke Partners of New York will develop the building’s interior and furniture, fixtures and equipment program, and crafted the Arnhold Building master plan. Akustiks of South Norwalk, Conn., will serve as the acoustical engineer and Robert Silman Associates of Washington is the structural engineer.

“Everyone at The New School is revved up about the convergence of Mannes moving to Arnhold Hall, the current renovation and exciting future plans for the building, and the coming together of the three performing arts schools into one brand new division: The College of The Performing Arts,” said Richard Kessler, executive dean for performing arts at The New School speaking with DNAinfo New York on Feb. 25. “All of this will allow us to expand opportunities in world class performing arts education and performances, while partnering with the rest of The New School to engage the much broader community [more] than ever before.”

The total cost of renovations and an estimated completion date for the project have not yet been disclosed, though Mannes College of Music is expected to move into its new home by fall 2015.
Following the relocation, the existing Mannes College of Music building will be acquired by the private, PK-8 Manhattan Country School, which is currently based on the city’s Upper East Side. The move to the six-story, nearly 100-year-old building, as well as the subsequent renovation, will nearly double the school’s square footage.

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Heery International, with offices in Baltimore, designed the $33 million center that stands at 112,000 square feet.

“The ultimate goal, in our collaboration with the Heery International Design Team, was to integrate state-of-the-art medical equipment with high fidelity simulation. This integration will provide our students with the ability to demonstrate competency in the laboratory setting before working with actual patients,” said Angela D. Anderson, dean of health sciences, in a statement.
The new center will also expand the school’s health science programs. The new facility will provide classrooms and laboratory space for programs including diagnostic medical sonography, physician’s assistant and surgical technology.

The construction of the Center for Health Studies was prompted by an increasing demand for health care professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2010 and 2020 job opportunities for registered nurses will grow by 26 percent, for pharmacy technicians 32 percent, 28 percent for radiologic technologists and the need for emergency medical technicians will grow by 33 percent. The community college is also expecting to see their student population flourish by about 33 percent over the next eight years. The construction of the new center will be able to accommodate the growing student population and offer more opportunities to that population in the upcoming job market.

“The college partnered with state and county governments to create the Center for Health Studies in response to a growing demand for trained healthcare providers,” Anderson said. “Opening the new center allows the college to expand and enhance existing clinical programs and develop new areas of specialization to address workforce shortages,” she added.”

The center will include 11 smart classrooms, one health science computer lab, 26 simulation labs, 52 faculty offices, 19 staff and administrative offices, a collegian center and advisement space.

The building will house existing health science and technology programs in health information management and medical coder biller; nursing; radiography; respiratory therapy; nuclear medicine; emergency medical technician on the basic, intermediate and paramedic levels; medical assistant; optometric assistant; and pharmacy technician.

Students will attend classes in the new Center for Health Studies beginning Aug. 27.

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