October 2021
Out with the Old School in with the New — Leah Emineth, Opinion Editor
The new Mandan High School is projected to be done in 2024 and with it comes a lot of major changes. As the number of students attending Mandan High increases, so does the need for a new school. “The new school is projected to be between 290,000 and 295,000 square feet and will be built to hold 1,400 kids,” principal Mark Andresen said. “The commons areas and gym area are gonna be built to fit roughly 1,800 kids.” The current high school only fits about 1,200 kids so the new high school will be of big importance as the younger classes move up. The school is going to be three levels and built diagonally from the sports complex. “The main level will be in the middle of the building, there will be two academic wings and one will be two floors and the other will be three,” Andresen said. “The third floor will be the CTE wing so there will basically be five academic wings.” In regards to the old high school demolition is being considered . The property then would be sold to developers to make apartment buildings or other residential areas. “The all seasons arena would not get demolished because it is owned by the park district,” Andresen said. This high school will have a completely different look than the old highschool with higher ceilings and a lot of natural light making it look and feel a lot more spacious. “When you walk into this building you will walk into a commons area that is going to be very large with lots of flexible seating and natural lighting,” Andresen said. “There is gonna be a lunch room that has probably three to four lines in it of different food options. There will also probably be a coffee bar and consessions to replace the a la carte that we have currently.” When walking into the new school directly to the right is where the gym will be located and diagonal to the commons will be the auditorium which will hold 800 seats with a balcony. “The typical classroom will probably be between 850 to 900 square feet so there will be a lot more room in the classrooms,” Andresen said. “I think the design we are going with is going to be for the future. The library is going to be very different it is going to be an open format that overlooks the cafeteria and commons.” Each wing of the school will have a commons area with different seating for kids to sit in between classes or during lunch. Mandan currently has an auto shop, tech shop, and welding shop. “We are planning to have a welding shop, two Ag shops, a construction and technology shop, and a family consumer science
and health careers lab,” Andresen said. “Down in the commons kind of by the library we will have a school store and the DECA classroom right behind.” “Another key area down by the commons will be our culinary lab, a full cooking lab with glass on the windows so people walking by can see students cooking,” Andresen said. The design of the school is inspired by a High School in Sartell Minnestosa. The school will have a lot more space in general with natural light, higher ceilings, a lot more parking and seating for kids and more room in classrooms. The school is still in the developmental stages but it is full steam ahead. As of late September ground has been broken to start the new school.
Photo by Ariana Gonzalez
Pictured above is the ground work for the new high school covering around 295,000 square feet.
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