White Bear Lake Area Schools hired Wold in 2018 to complete a comprehensive study of the District’s facilities, including facility condition analysis, capacity vs. enrollment, educational adequacy, and safety and security. A facility planning committee of 90 community members met for several months to review information, determine priorities, and examine solutions, a process facilitated by Wold. At the end of the committee’s work, the Board adopted the recommended Facility Master Plan which was approved in November 2019 by the voters of the District.
The main focus of the referendum work is to bring grades 9-12 together in a single facility, which requires a major addition/renovation to the current grades 9-10 building. This comprehensive high school unifies the two campuses into a single facility with a student capacity of 3,200 including anticipated growth and supports career pathways programming for students. The design includes a three-story classroom and specialty labs addition, a new 800-seat auditorium, a five-station athletics fieldhouse, and the creation of a student commons for dining, learning, and events. The site features several artificial turf fields and dedicated areas for visitor/parent, student, staff, and bus traffic to maximize utilization of the site, which is shared with Central Middle School.