OWATONNA, Minn.—A $99 million high school has been realized in this town located approximately 70 miles south of the Twin Cities. Construction commenced in May 2021 on the three-story school, whose campus also includes a football stadium, tennis courts, physical education building, auditorium, “town square” and outdoor athletic fields. Companies such as Federated Insurance and Mayo Clinic Health System contributed funds to the project.

The 317,000-square-foot Owatonna High School, located at 1455 SE 18th St., was designed by Wold Architects and Engineers to hold 1,600 students. Their design includes industrial arts laboratories and tech shop classrooms, as well as a centrally located cafeteria. Among the types of career paths students can learn about at Owatonna High are nursing, publishing and digital media, culinary arts, and engineering. By offering career-education classes, the local Owatonna community is hoping to retain skilled workers upon graduation rather than lose them to larger cities.

“Following years of working alongside many incredible local businesses, partners, staff and students, we are thrilled to finally open Owatonna High School and watch our students excel,” Jeff Elstad, superintendent at Owatonna Public Schools, said of the new high school. “This school will help them foster a sense of community and ownership over their learning in an innovative and inspiring environment while serving as a source of excitement and pride for the city of Owatonna.”

Wold worked in concert with construction manager Kraus-Anderson to realize the project. The two firms collaborated to fashion a school built of precast concrete and structural steel. The facade comprises brick and metal panels as well as glazing that allows in as much natural light as feasible. Architectural flourishes on the interior include terrazzo flooring, hardwood and metal panels covering the column wraps, as well as prefinished interior panels within the auditorium.

The exterior of Owatonna High includes four athletic storage buildings as well as a parking lot that can hold nearly 1,000 vehicles.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the district and local voices to create a school that reflects the community it serves,” said Paul Aplikowski, partner at Wold. “We are excited to see how this school realizes the district’s vision for education for many years to come and becomes a role model for the area in high school education.”

“Owatonna Public Schools has been a fantastic partner during the entire construction process, where close communication and coordination was needed to meet all expectations,” said Michael Stenbeck, KA’s project manager. “It has been amazing to witness jaws drop as students and the community walk into the new facility. We are so proud to be a part of this project.”

Stenbeck added that managing ongoing supply chain issues was an issue for the project. “We maintained close communications and collaboration with all of our partners and subs to manage delivery expectations,” he said in an email sent to School Construction News.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this project was seeing the Owatonna community rally together to turn the dream of a new high school into reality,” Sal Bagley, partner at Wold, informed School Construction News. “From the successful [bond referendum] to the unprecedented support from local businesses in the form of donations and programming involvement, the full community truly inspired the unique and reflective design of this landmark school.”

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MANZANOLA, Colo.—A historic high school building in the southeast of the Centennial State has been given a 21st century facelift. The Manzanola Junior/Senior High School—built in 1925 according to designs by noted Colorado architect Temple Buell—has undergone renovations to its older structures as well as the addition of more educational space to accommodate increasing enrollment.

Furthermore, the century-old school building featured rather antiquated climate control, and was also in need of asbestos remediation and various repairs throughout. The Manzanola School District 3J was able to secure $31 million from a BEST grant in 2019 in order to fund the upgrades.

Colorado’s own Wold Architects and Engineers was hired to redesign Manzanola, and their plans were realized jointly by Nunn Construction and Vanir Construction Management. Part of the architectural redesign by Wold entailed reconfiguring the school around a two-story media center, which served as the proverbial heart of the school. Accordingly, learning spaces were configured to emanate out from that central location along two wings—which simultaneously respected Buell’s initial vision for the school.

The reimagined campus now boasts a “learning courtyard” as well as modern facilities for administrative use, physical education and science classes.

“As a local firm, we are honored to work with the Manzanola School District to revitalize its new community campus and honor the original structure designed by Buell,” Josh Grenier, principal at Wold Architects and Engineers, said in a recent statement. “This campus supports a diverse student population that deserves a safe, enriching learning environment, and we are proud to play a role in bringing this important facility to life.”

Added Nancy Westfall, Manzanola School District 3J Superintendent, “We have such a bright and deserving student population and couldn’t be more excited for them to experience the new community campus. These reimagined spaces provide a collaborative learning environment and a safe, secure facility that honors our rural community’s long, rich history.”

In addition to its offices in Colorado, Wold operates from locations in Tennessee, Illinois and Minnesota. The 2021 Building Design + Construction Giants 400 Report ranked the company number 6 on its annual national list of top architecture-engineering firms.

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ST. PAUL, Minn.—Wold Architects and Engineers of St. Paul has a slate of school construction projects planned, both within the capital region as well as in cities throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Wold is working on renovating older facilities as well as constructing new ones to reduce overcrowding.

Wold’s projects include White Bear Lake High School, to be located in the community also called White Bear Lake, as well as other high schools in Tartan, Oakdale, Owatonna and Mora.

Each of the schools designed by Wold will offer flexible learning spaces (the wisdom of which the covid-19 pandemic has made clear), learning studios and classrooms devoted specifically to technical education.

At White Bear Lake High School, Wold is renovating 285,000 square feet of existing educational space as well working on a 375,000-square-foot addition. When finished, the complement of students that the high school can comfortably house will be over 3,000. A three-story classroom will exist side by side with an 800-seat auditorium, athletics fieldhouse, student commons and specialty laboratories.

The new building, being built by general contractor Kraus-Anderson, will house technical and training programs to help students work toward potential careers in vocational and other courses. The addition is expected to be complete for the fall of 2024.

In addition to White Bear Lake High School, Wold is also working on renovations and upgrades to Tartan and North High Schools (ISD 622), Owatonna High School and Mora High School (ISD 332).

“As a local firm, we are proud to lead the design of these five high schools to ensure that the academic environment is positioned to help students, educators and faculty thrive,” Vaughn Dierks, partner at Wold Architects and Engineers, said in a recent statement. “Each of these school designs has been tailored to the goals of the district, and our team has worked hard to collaboratively create both functional and beautiful spaces that will help accomplish those goals.”

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The SIA, a leading trade association for electronic and physical security solution providers, is comprised of roughly 500 security and alarm firms representing some 300,000 members. The organization advocates for pro-industry policies and legislation, produces global market research, and provides member education and training.

SIA spokesperson April Dalton-Noblitt of Allegion, a home and business security firm based in Carmel, Ind., presented at the event. Dalton-Noblitt highlighted several new products, but keyed in on mass notification systems, access control and systems integration, as well as a need for potential lockdown solutions in the case of an emergency. The presentation was part of a SIA-sponsored panel discussing new developments in school construction, security and financing that school boards should consider when planning and advocating for infrastructure improvements.

“It was encouraging to see that school board members are engaged on this issue and want to make sure security vulnerabilities are addressed early in the planning stages for school construction and renovation,” Dalton-Noblitt said in a statement. “The integration of modern security technology is an essential part of the solution for ensuring our kids are safe and should not be overlooked.”

The SIA has also worked to reinstate federal assistance to schools systems looking to implement new security technology. SIA partnered with the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) to form Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) in October 2014, which develops assessments and best practices for affordable security solutions drawn from security practitioners, law enforcement officials and school administrators. The PASS alliance is now developing guidelines for the use of electronic security and life safety equipment in schools that will provide tiered recommendations based on the resources available at a given facility.

“By drawing upon the insights and expertise of security suppliers, security practitioners, school administrators and law enforcement, the SIA PASS recommendations will enable education officials to maximize the effectiveness of their security solutions,” SIA CEO Don Erickson said in a statement. “I have been continuously impressed by the passion and experience of our committee members, and I particularly appreciate NSCA’s commitment to this initiative. I am hopeful that additional security practitioner, first-responder, and supplier organizations who share our commitment to preventing senseless crime and violence in our nation’s schools will join the PASS coalition.”

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