Frost Lake Elementary School in St. Paul is getting a $20 million addition and face-lift that will give students more room for learning and improved air quality.

Construction began last week at the Hoyt Avenue building on the East Side of St. Paul.

The two-story addition and renovations were designed by U+B Architecture & Design and are being built by Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson Construction.

The expansion of the K-5 school will feature a new entrance, gym, cafeteria, restrooms, kitchen and administrative spaces. Existing learning spaces will be renovated and receive new heating and air systems and new lighting, fire suppression, and security technologies, said officials who emphasized the need for more space and safer air quality during the global coronavirus pandemic.

The school's attached parks building will be demolished.

Frost Lake Elementary is one of dozens of major K-12 construction projects Kraus-Anderson will work on this summer.

Separately Monday, Kraus-Anderson announced it completed a $70 million expansion and renovation project of the Nobel Hall of Science at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. It also completed construction of a two-story, 59,800-square-foot dealership and warehouse in Willmar, Minn., for Ziegler Caterpillar's agriculture and construction equipment.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725