LUXEMBURG, WI (WTAQ) – Ground is breaking on Friday for major community projects in the Luxemburg-Casco school district, including a brand-new middle school.
The changes, which will soon be taking form, first were conceptualized years ago when the district approached the community and asked for their input.
“Four years ago, we asked the community what it wanted out of the school district,” says Luxemburg-Casco School District Superintendent Glenn Schlender. “The main two things we heard from residents was that they wanted a facilities plan including upgrades to the high school, along with a plan for relocating the middle school from Casco to Luxemburg.”
Eventually, a referendum passed in April of 2018.
“We asked their opinion, we listened, voters supported the plan, and now we’re delivering on it,” he explains. “We couldn’t be more excited to begin this project which will serve the entire Luxemburg-Casco community.”
At the heart of the project is a new middle school building.
According to Schlender, the current building has served its purpose and then some.
“The building was originally built in 1938,” he explains. “So it’s old.”
And the original design has presented some issues as needs have changed in the 21st century.
Beyond the building itself, the location is far from efficient.
Officials and parents alike have lamented about transportation headaches due to shuttling between the separate high school and middle school locations.
The approved plan outlined in the referendum will do away with that inconvenience.
“We’re going to build a middle school connected to the high school, but quite separate, so the kids stay separate,” he explains.
Officials say that parents made it known that they wanted the two locations together, but for the kids themselves to have their own separate space.
Those involved with the construction plans are saying the completed building will be off somewhere in the 2021 horizon.
The other projects outlined in the referendum are more short-term in nature and could pop-up as soon as the new year.
One of the initiatives breaking ground is a community fitness center, which is being constructed to better serve everyone in the area.
According to Schlender, their current weight room serves the students, but they want to offer more to anyone interested.
“If you’re a retiree you’re likely not going to be putting big plates on a bar and doing bench presses,” he explains. “You want to do more aerobic kinds of things.”
Indeed the plan is to expand the fitness center and offer a selection of aerobic equipment, in addition to an on-site changing facility.
School officials have stressed that these improvements are being implemented not solely for the benefit of the students, but for everyone.
“As a rural district, there is tremendous community pride in our school facilities,” adds Schlender. “People are genuinely excited to see this project come to fruition.”
Other improvements include a three-station gymnasium, which will be twice the size of the current facility.
