Voters say 'yes' to $6.45 million

Voters in the Cromwell-Wright school district passed a referendum Tuesday, delivering a valentine to a district seeking $6.45 million in improvements to school safety and parking, along with a gym expansion.

The measure passed, 243-194, following seven hours of voting in downtown Cromwell.

“Obviously, the majority of people saw it as a need,” superintendent Nathan Libbon said. “I’m very grateful. I’m grateful for everyone that voted.”

Approval of the referendum allows the district to bond for $6.45 million across 20 years. The impact on property owners will vary, depending on market valuations. A $250,000 home will see its taxes increase by $318 annually, while a $250,000 commercial property will see its taxes increase by $575 annually.

Libbon expected to meet this week with architects from Duluth’s Architectural Resources, Inc., to begin moving the project from concept to reality.

“I’m excited about what lies ahead,” Libbon said. “This new phase of planning, designing and eventually construction.”

The referendum had targeted work to be done in time for the start of the 2024-25 school year, but Libbon was hesitant to firm up a timeline until beginning the new planning phase.

The work will be the first substantive change to the existing school building since it was constructed in 1995.

In 2018, the district opened a $2.1 million industrial technology facility paid for out of district funds. A referendum related to that facility had failed to pass.

“We did a better job of getting information out and informing people this time,” Libbon said. “It was also a different sort of project, one aimed at preserving the existing school for use over the long haul.

“It’s upgrading what we currently have — improving parking, building security, expanding our second gym, not building a new one,” Libbon said.

Conceptual illustrations of the work are available on the district’s website, isd95.org.

The project now moves into a planning and design phase in which specifics are outlined for everything that needs to happen. Bid-letting for construction will follow the completion of design.

As far as the work goes:

• A newly resurfaced parking lot will add capacity and address deterioration and drainage issues, while also incorporating a new dropoff/pickup cul-de-sac solely for busing.

• Security updates will create a new main entrance for the building, and arm other doors with security alarms that trigger in the main office when a door is ajar.

• Improvements to the second gym will lead to the most significant construction related to the project. Work will remove the south wall, so the volleyball and basketball court can be made regulation-size, while adding seating for up to 200 people. There will also be a student space created outside the gym for small-group activities. The gym will remain a secondary gym to the competition gym.

• Bathrooms throughout the school will also receive facelifts.