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Schools

School Board Moving Forward With Woodbury Arts Center

Funding will determine timeline for the facility's construction; the new center will be located at East Ridge High School.

The art community in Woodbury and surrounding areas might soon have a centralized place to call home if all goes according to plan with the construction of an arts center at this spring.

At its Feb. 17 meeting, the South Washington County School Board approved a plan that calls for bids to be solicited for the project beginning in March.

The proposed arts center, which would be completely funded by donations—thanks in large part to a $2.2 million dollar contribution by late Woodbury resident Dorothy Merrill—could be finished as soon as winter 2012.

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However, if bids come in higher than the expected cost of the project, construction may have to wait.

"Right now the budget of the project is right around $2.5 million, depending on the price of steel that day," said Michelle Witte, vice president of , the organization that will manage the facility. "The only way to get a true cost on a project is to bid it out and look at those bids."

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She added: "It could be that the bids come in higher and we missed a window and it's more than we can afford, so we'll have to wait longer. But that's unlikely. I think we're well within usable guidelines and we should be able to get a good building climate."

District 833 Superintendent Mark Porter agreed.

"We do believe there is a favorable environment for construction projects of this type," he said.

The total cost of the project is slated for about $2.5 million, with most of that money coming from Merrill's estate, and the rest donated from other art patrons in the Woodbury area.

Architectural firm Rego and Younquist is designing the building.

The idea for the performing arts center dates back to 1995, when a theater was proposed for Woodbury's Central Park. Those plans withered for lack of funding.

"That facility was to cost about $10 million and there wasn't enough bonding for it in the state Legislature," Witte said. "It was too much for Woodbury to support."

But when East Ridge High School was built a few years ago, the idea regained momentum.

Now, a completed facility, albeit one that's a little more modest than the one proposed for , could be less than a year away.

Groundbreaking on the project could begin as soon as June, right after East Ridge seniors have graduated.

The art center's main attraction will be a 150-seat black box theater.

"It allows us to take more off of the (East Ridge) Loft stage," Witte said. "If you can take more off and put it on a smaller stage, it makes the Loft stage more available for community use."

The center will also be used for rehearsals, and set and costume storage, which Witte said is much needed.

"All of our costumes are in a semi-truck trailer and a Cottage Grove barnyard, and it's very hard to get people to build sets and costumes and work on tech when you have no facilities."

Logan Greene, Park High School's student representative on the school board, said the proposed East Ridge Facility would be utilized by all of the high schools in the district.

"I just wanted to say that I'm very grateful to see a black box theater moving into the District 833 community," he said at the board meeting. "I'm glad to see extensions on that form of art being brought into our community."

Witte described the arts center as "theater that drives theater" and said it's exciting to be so close to seeing the project as a reality after so many years of planning. 

Porter shared Witte's enthusiasm.

"Six years worth of work may very well come to a successful fruition, and that's what we all hoped for and intended from the beginning," he said.

To read more about the proposed arts center and about Merrill's contribution, click here.

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