Menomonee Falls community center and elementary school could get $8 million expansion
A Menomonee Falls elementary school and village Community Center stand to get an $8 million upgrade and expansion if all goes their way.
School district officials on April 8 presented a plan at the School Board's finance and auxiliary services committee meeting that calls for creating additional gym space to support the community education and recreation's programming growth and provide extra space and features for Riverside Elementary, which is attached to the community center.
Construction management firm VJS Construction Services and architectural firm EUA shared conceptual plans for the upgrades and expansion at that same meeting.
Here's what to know about the proposed project.
What is the Menomonee Falls Community Center, and what is its purpose?
The Community Center was developed in partnership with the village of Menomonee Falls and the Menomonee Falls School District and is operated by the School District. It opened in 1996 as an addition to Riverside Elementary School. The school, itself, was built in 1959. A hallway and shared spaces, including a gym, connect the two buildings.
The Community Center offers sports and activities for children and adults. For example, the Community Center has a group exercise and dance studio room in its lower level; the gym it shares with Riverside Elementary hosts events such as practices and competitions for the Menomonee Falls Youth Basketball Association, indoor practices for Menomonee Falls Angels Softball, Community Education and Recreation programs and more.
Why are upgrades and an expansion being proposed at the Menomonee Falls Community Center and Riverside Elementary School?
The district's community education and recreation program has seen growth in participants, while Riverside Elementary has seen increased student enrollment, and is projected to see continued enrollment growth.
There have also been challenges due to the need for school-related space for students in Quest, Menomonee Falls High School's alternative high school program, as well as Riverside's music program. The need for that school-related space has reduced the amount of space available to accommodate growing community programs. Sharing space with the community has created safety concerns for Riverside and Quest students, according to the district.
There is also an overlap with students waiting to use the gym and community members going to the lower level for programs. Daytime community events have to be planned outside of school hours, and if an event is scheduled during school hours, physical education classes are left looking for a different location.
Community access is limited during the day because of the current gym's configuration. Also, since the existing center is two stories, there are accessibility challenges for the senior population using the group exercise and dance studio on the lower level.
The district hopes the project will address capacity issues at the Community Center and meet growing community demand for programming and space. The expansion would add another gym to increase community accessibility, reduce scheduling conflicts and increase safety for Riverside Elementary and Quest students. Community education and recreation programming would then move to one floor.
How would the project be financed?
The project is being timed with paying off previous referendum debt early and would take place over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years. Coordinating the timing of the project with the retirement of debt would maintain the tax levy and create no additional bump in taxes, according to the district.
The district said that, in collaboration with PMA Securities LLC, its board has focused on long-term fiscal efficiency by setting up the district to pay off referendum debt early and has identified a taxpayer savings of $3.3 million over the next 12 years.
"This defeasance simultaneously creates room in the total tax levy to fund the proposed CE&Rec Community Center project in the 2024 and 2025 tax levies, allowing the projects to be funded while avoiding a significant tax spike for the community," the district's website said.
The community center expansion and renovation cost is estimated at $8.314 million and would come from the district's community service fund, called Fund 80. The renovation to Riverside Elementary School would cost an estimated $529,704 and would come from the district's Fund 10, or operating budget.
Menomonee Falls School District director of finance and operations Caitlin Windler said in an email to a reporter that the district would be paying off "a portion of debt" from the district's 2016 and 2006 referendums.
In April 2016, voters approved one referendum question approving $32.7 million in districtwide facilities improvements but rejected a second referendum question asking for $3.75 million to maintain class sizes and programming.
In November 2006, voters approved two questions: one for $18.65 million to expand Menomonee Falls High School to accommodate ninth-grade students and the other for $4.9 million for various remodeling, renovation and improvement projects at Benjamin Franklin, Riverside, Shady Lane and Valley View elementary schools and Thomas Jefferson Middle School, according to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction.
What is the timeline for the project?
The district said it expects the school board to discuss the projects April 22 and then vote on the proposal May 13. If approved, construction would start in spring 2025 with estimated completion in eight months, the district's website said.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at@AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Falls community center, school could get $8 million expansion
