The Woodbury City Council last night approved a building plan for two additions to East Ridge High School. But first council members added a requirement that the South Washington County ISD 833 pay for a traffic study and any steps the study identifies to improve road safety.
Last November, voters in the district supported the additions by passing a $160 million referendum. The high school currently serves 1,900 students and the additions of 38,230 square feet will increase capacity to 2,300.
Marc DuBois, the project’s lead architect from KOMA Inc., said the goals are to meet student growth, increase space for the career and technical education program, and upgrade safety. “Our design has approached all of those in multiple aspects,” DuBois told the council.
The project will include a new kitchen and expanded cafeteria, six science classrooms, 12 general education classrooms, and four special education classrooms. An addition to the career and technical education wing will create a flex-build lab for construction trades.
Because of a recent building code change a portion of the classroom expansion will be designed to serve as a storm shelter that can accommodate 2,900 people.
The school’s drop off zone will be increased, which will allow more vehicles to exit Hargis Parkway to pick up or drop off students. The project also will reconfigure staff parking and redesign the plaza space at the Athletics and Activities entrance, with a second secure entry point being added.
Eric Searles, Woodbury’s city planner, said 208 parking spots will be added, which school officials believe is sufficient to meet demand. About 100 trees will be planted to replace that number being removed for the project.
Council member Steve Morris lives by the school and said that he and his neighbors are highly concerned about the dangers of existing traffic. After his urging, the council required the district to study how the project will affect traffic and mitigate any increased impact.
Kraus-Anderson of Minneapolis will be the construction manager for the project. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2025 and be completed by the fall of 2026.
