Willmar School District seeks bids for new middle school gym

Levi Jones, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·3 min read

Feb. 3—WILLMAR

— The Willmar School Board at its Jan. 8 meeting approved the designs for a new gymnasium to be built at the Willmar Middle School and the district is now accepting bids for construction.

Bonding to fund the $6.1 million project was approved by the district's voters in the

Nov. 7, 2023, referendum.

"The need has been there for a long time. The space was built in the 1960s, and when it was built, the district built what it could afford. I am sure it was pretty state-of-the-art, but it was built with an undersized gym. Frankly, that gym lacks adequate space for physical activities," Willmar Superintendent Jeff Holm said.

The current gym is too small for many activities that the school would like to do, and the location does not meet current standards for public school athletic space.

The new gym is planned to extend from the south of the building. It will be about 14,600 square feet, nearly 6,000 square feet larger than the current space.

"Our goal wasn't to have a full-size NBA basketball court. It is to provide a space for our physical education kids that is open and safe. It is just really awesome to look at the potential for it," Willmar Middle School Principal Mark Miley said.

In the approved plans, the gym fits two basketball courts and space for bleachers. This would allow the school to host larger events such as concerts, expand possibilities for physical education classes and host community events.

"My average class size is 25 and my biggest class is 32. Trying to do anything — we just finished a basketball unit, and those classes we can't do any sort of a game. We did entirely drills, which are not great and are not fun for them, but we made the best of it," said Laura Fossum, Willmar Middle School physical education instructor.

The new gym will also function as a storm shelter in case of emergency. It will also be able to be closed off from the rest of the school if an event were to take place there, in order to restrict access to the greater school area.

The construction would allow for the relocation of programs inside of the building. Most affected would be the music department.

Willmar Middle School has seen growth in its band, choir and orchestra programs, which has increased the need for updated spaces. The current orchestra room is located away from the band and choir rooms. This project could allow the orchestra to move into a closer location which could fit a greater number of students.

Plans for the new gym have been around since 2019, though due to the pandemic, things were delayed. The school district looked at a few different ways of funding the gym before going to the voters to obtain approval for bonding.

"Shortly after I arrived here, visiting the middle school as I did and talking to instructors, they pointed out it was very difficult to conduct classes for a school of around 900 kids with one small gym space," Holm said.

Construction on the gym is expected to begin this summer, and the project is expected to be completed by the start of the school year in 2025. The school district is expecting to have bids back later this month.