742, Sartell Schools Confident Long Winter Only Minor Speed-Bump

ST. CLOUD/SARTELL -- Two large school construction projects have seen a setback thanks to the unexpected visit from old man winter recently.

Both Sartell-St. Stephen and District 742 say they're seeing a slight delay in the construction of their new high schools, however, neither are worried the delay will be anything more than a few weeks.

In Sartell, who started their construction early last summer, they're about a month behind where they'd like to be. Superintendent Jeff Schwiebert says they wanted to have the school enclosed by mid-June.

"We had originally hoped to have the whole building enclosed by the middle of June, our project manager now says they'll have it enclosed by the middle of July."

Schwiebert says the school is still on track to be finished by August of 2019, ready to open in time for that school year. It's expected to hold around 1,300 students.

Dave Leapaldt is the Senior Architect for IIW Minnesota, the firm behind the new Tech High School. He says, while they're behind, it's early enough in the construction where they simply need some extra bodies on site to get things back on track.

"[The weather just makes it] more imperative that we get more trades on the site when the weather gets better so we can catch up. It's early enough so people can work all over the site without getting in each other's way."

Leapaldt says they're not worried about the finishing date either. The new Tech is being built along 33rd Street South in St. Cloud, near Stride Academy. That school is expected to hold 1600 students.

Between the two districts, $194-million is being spent on the projects. Sartell's new high school comes in at $89.5-million. St. Cloud' at $104.5-million.