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Hot Property: A $26 million elementary school for Wayzata district

April 13, 2015 at 1:52AM

Wold Architects & Engineers (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Type: Education

Size: 83,000 square feet

Cost: $26.1 million

Developer: Independent School District 284

Architect: Wold Architects & Engineers

Details: The Wayzata Public Schools' plans for a new, two-story elementary school got the official go-ahead last week when the Plymouth City Council approved a conditional use permit and rezonings for the project.

With the city approvals in hand, work on the 83,000-square-foot facility is set to start in May on the northern half of a 54-acre "greenfield" site along County Road 47. The remainder of the parcel has been approved for a high-end residential project from Golden Valley-based Gonyea Homes.

Funding for the school was secured as part of a $109.6 million bond referendum passed by district residents last year. The lion's share will go toward an expansion of Wayzata High School, but $26.1 million of the total was earmarked for the as-yet-unnamed Plymouth elementary, which is expected to accommodate approximately 700 students.

The designs from Wold Architects & Engineers call for 25 classrooms of 900 square feet each for grades 1-5, and five kindergarten classrooms. The rooms will feature flexible walls to allow for reconfiguration as school enrollment levels change.

Also part of the plans are 3,550 square feet of lab space, a 6,900-square-foot gymnasium and a 3,700-square-foot media center, which has been designed to be easily accessed for after-school activities.

School officials plan a Fall 2016 opening.

Don Jacobson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.