PRINSBURG -- In the midst of Fourth of July festivities Wednesday, the Prinsburg community also celebrated the groundbreaking of Central Minnesota Christian School's major rebuilding project.
After the Freedom Fun Run and Adam's Race -- which raised $22,000 for the CMCS capital campaign -- around 300 people stayed Wednesday morning to watch the groundbreaking, according to Tricia Nelson, capital campaign coordinator at CMCS.
"It was a great turnout and showed wonderful support from the community," Nelson said. "It was a chance to celebrate God's faithfulness to us and getting us to this point."
The Christian-based school voted last October to begin the rebuilding project and has now raised $6.2 million of its $8.5 million capital campaign, enough to begin phase one of the project. The entire rebuilding will be done in two phases.
Phase one will begin with the construction of the new cafetorium, which will serve as both the cafeteria and auditorium for all grades. The cafetorium will be built where the playground exists now and will connect the elementary and secondary buildings.
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Construction of the cafetorium will begin in a couple of weeks, Nelson said. The school estimates that the multi-purpose building will be completed by next spring.
Other parts of phase one include a new library and media center, an event lobby and concessions area, administrative offices and conference room, 16 classrooms and a science lab. The secondary school will be demolished and rebuilt.
These renovations will begin in late spring of next year and should be completed prior to the beginning of the 2013 school year, Nelson said.
Overall, the goals of the rebuilding project are to address the needs of the aging building, provide additional space and room for growth, and give students a 21st century learning environment, Nelson said. The school's entire technical infrastructure will be redone, and all classrooms will be equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities.
"We want to update the facilities and provide an environment that promotes excellence in education," Nelson said. "We see the building as a tool to fulfill our larger, overall mission -- to equip students for lives of service."
Currently, CMCS has just over 300 students enrolled in pre-K through 12th grade.
Teachers, families and the Prinsburg community have been overwhelmingly supportive of the project, Nelson said.
"It's all come together so fast," she said. "It definitely involves work, but it also feels effortless when you know the Lord's hand of blessing is on it and the community supports it. We're so grateful to have that support."
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Though the school took time Wednesday to celebrate how far the project has come, Nelson said they're now looking toward raising the funds for phase two, which will include new band and choir rooms, a new gymnasium and a sports facility that will be open to the community.
"Right now, we're celebrating what God has done for this portion of the project and we're excited to start construction," Nelson said. "But we're also looking to phase two and raising the necessary funds to complete the project in its entirety."
