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District construction begins with Little Theater demolition

Lead Summary
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By
Mavis Fodness

A month after remodeling plans started at the Luverne Middle-High School, demolition of what staff and students refer to as the “Little Theater” will wrap up this week.
Since the week of March 4, workers with Gil Haugen Construction of Sioux Falls have been demolishing walls originally constructed in the mid-1950s.
Site superintendent David Mulert with ICS Consulting monitors the construction project.
He said demolition in the Little Theater is much like an archeological dig as workers uncover former outer walls that were concealed when the building additions were put into place.
Prior to the brick walls coming down, the theater’s 518 seats were removed, and workers used jackhammers to manually dismantle the red brick acoustical walls from the top down.
They then used jackhammers to break up the concrete blocks between dressing rooms on the stage and the projection room and storage area in the rear.
After three weeks of demolition, workers began bringing in aggregate fill to level the sloping theater floors.
A new concrete floor is poured and now workers are turning their attention to constructing the interior walls for the new instrumental and choral music suites.
“It’s been going well,” Mulert said. “There hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary that would put us off schedule.”
The Little Theater’s transformation into the school’s music suites is projected for completion in early August. The classrooms are expected to be ready for the upcoming school year, starting Sept. 16.
Staff and students acknowledge that the beeping of the skid loaders, rattle of the jackhammers and vibrations in the walls and floors have been daily disturbances since the work began.
Everyone has worked through the distractions, according to Principal Ryan Johnson.
“Knowing progress is occurring is the encouragement we need; knowing that the end product will be great,” Johnson said.
The entire project is expected to finish in the spring of 2021.
Along with the theater demolition, workers are installing a new distribution panel for electrical upgrades to the high school.
Construction activity will pick up pace after classes are dismissed on May 17.
Summer construction includes breaking ground for the new classroom addition (August 2020 finish) and performing arts center (February 2021 finish).
The first areas for remodeling also begin this summer.

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