WILLMAR - Voters in the Willmar School District vote today on a two-question bond issue for the district.
Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Willmar Education and Arts Center, 611 Fifth St. S.W., near downtown Willmar. The district is using one polling place for the entire district as a cost-saving measure.
School districts are not able to enter into major building projects without getting voter approval in a referendum.
Question 1 on the ballot asks if voters want to approve the sale of bonds for a $52.35 million project for academic improvements in the school district.
The project includes building a new PreK-5 elementary school, building a science classroom addition at Willmar Middle School and adding gymnasium/physical education space at Willmar Senior High. Other parts of the project include remodeling to improve academic facilities at Kennedy and Roosevelt elementary schools and at the middle and high schools. Also on the list are a number of major maintenance projects, including roof replacements and boiler repair or replacement.
Question 2 asks voters to approve funding for a $7.75 million field house on the Senior High campus. The facility would be 51,000 square feet and would provide space for physical education and athletics as well as for the community. It will include an indoor walking track that would be available for use by the public.
Question 2 cannot be approved unless Question 1 is approved.
The Willmar School Board, with the help of a citizen task force, developed the building plan after nearly two years of deliberation and study.
The vote comes a year after the district finished paying for the bonds for the Senior High, which opened in fall 1994.
The 20-year bonds are estimated at raise school property taxes on a $125,000 residential property by $13.25 a month if Question 1 is approved and $15.17 if Question 2 is also approved.
For more information about the bond issue and its impact, go to
www.willmar.k12.mn.us
.
