Ground broken

Last Wednesday, the Denmark School District held a special celebration on the paved playground outside their elementary school. That morning, the district and their project partners, Miron Construction and Bray Architects, hosted an official groundbreaking ceremony which marked the beginning of construction for the large, state-of-the-art addition to the school to be used by students and staff currently housed in the Early Childhood Center (ECC). 

By 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, over a hundred people including students, staff and community members had gathered on the hardscape play area anxiously anticipating the start of the ceremony. At the front of the crowd was a large pile of dirt behind which was a podium and backdrop, both bearing the logos of Denmark School District, Bray Architects and Miron Construction.

District Administrator Luke Goral, who served as the event's emcee, kicked off the proceedings by addressing the crowd from the podium. Goral started by thanking all in attendance before also thanking his staff, the contractors, the Village of Denmark and the community at large for their input and support throughout the extensive planning process. He stated he was especially grateful to the Core Planning Team who were "integral" to the process. Following Goral's opening remarks, the Denmark Middle School Band, under the direction of Mr. Bill Dennee, performed the National Anthem while the assembled audience paid their respects to a massive American flag draped from a crane.

Next up to the podium was School Board President Katie Rabenhorst who also thanked a number of people before touting the benefits of the new addition. Among these were the improvements to traffic flow during drop off and pick up and the overall advantage of having the district finally consolidated to one central campus.

Following President Rabenhorst's remarks, ECC Principal Lance Grishaber took the stage. Grishaber used his time to expand on the learning opportunities the new facility would provide. He stated that, although the current ECC building has served the community for over 100 years (with the first piece being built in 1920), what truly made the building special was the generations of students and staff who have called it home. Grishaber remarked that the groundbreaking was part of a "new and exciting story to be written by every student, countless parents and our amazing community."

Next, Goral introduced Tim Kippenhan, Vice President and COO of Miron Construction, who thanked the district and the community as a whole for the opportunity. He stated that he and his team were "confident we can build a safe and effective facility" adding, "there is a lot of work ahead of us and we are ready to do it." The day's final speaker was Nat Considine from Bray Architects who also thanked a long list of people and organizations that allowed the planning process to take place in an efficient and timely manner. Considine closed his comments by stating he and his team were "excited to see a 21st century facility added to this historic building."

After the featured speakers, it was time for the morning's main event--the ceremonial shovel turn that would mark the official start of construction on the project. The team of “diggers” lined up behind a large mound of dirt wielding golden shovels. Goral then led the crowd in a countdown from five after which the shoveling team performed the ceremonial scoop of dirt as the DMS band belted out the school song and confetti reigned down. Following the shoveling, children in attendance were invited to dig through the dirt to find a number of hidden purple wood chips they could turn in for a frozen treat.

Last week's groundbreaking ceremony was a celebration of the exciting future that lies in store for the Denmark School District and the community as a whole. It was the culmination of months of extensive planning as well as the start of a new era of education in Denmark. Crews have already started prepping for the substantial improvements approved by last fall's referendum and, if all goes as planned, students should be moving into the new facility at the start of next school year with construction being finalized by the end of 2024.