Introducing Our New Elementary School

I'm very pleased to be able to share some information this morning about the District 110 facilities plan. This fall we will be asking the voters to approve a $200 million bonding referendum to finance the construction of a new state-of-the-art Elementary School. The school will have many environmentally-friendly features including solar-heated water, lots of energy-efficient LED lighting, and electricity eventually provided by the proposed St Boni nuclear plant.

The new Coney Island Elementary building will be located on the famous island in Lake Waconia, and will offer unique educational opportunities to students, including a world-class aquatic life-sciences program, competition watersports, and the state's only under-12 tournament walleye fishing team.

Some parents expressed some initial concern about the increased bus traffic on the ice, but the City Council has assured the Board that a bridge extending Lakeview Terrace across to the island will be completed by 2012, will provide a new fishing pier, and will be financed entirely by the city of Waconia without lowering taxes.

The building itself was designed by Stephen Holl Architects and takes advantage of some of the natural features of the island's unique geography. You can see more artist conceptual drawings by clicking this link: PICTURES There will be classrooms to house approximately 450 students in grades K-5.

As the district continues to grow, the Board was presented with an opportunity to acquire the historic 310-acre island site for the new school for a price that was too good to refuse. "This school will be a signature achievement for District 110, and I think will be recognized across the country for it's innovation and outstanding design," said Stephen Holl, the lead designer.

The building will feature two main focal points, visible from almost anywhere around Lake Waconia: a lighthouse-themed Lambert Naegele Library (sketch, left) on the far eastern point of the island (SKETCH) and the glass-encased cafeteria on the north side of the school. The cafeteria will be "gently suggestive of the northern lights," says Holl. A single square puncture at the top permits a beam of sunlight to mix its warmth with the wall's cool blue north light. "So the experience of the exterior of these sheared glass ends, with their scalelessness, is completed by a unique, intimate phenomenon of translucency on the interior."

Whatever. It will have a really cool glassy wall thingy similar to the one Holl designed for the U of M's College of Architecture and Landscape (pictured, right).

It is a historic day for our District, and I'm sure as time goes on you will realize that April Fool's Day, 2009 is a day to remember in our community's history.

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