Construction has begun on a new middle school building in Grimes — made possible through a $46 million bond issue overwhelmingly passed by voters in the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, along with a donation of 47 acres of farmland valued at $3 million from an Iowa manufacturing entrepreneur.
Rendering from FRK Architects.
Construction has begun on a new middle school building in Grimes — made possible through a $46 million bond issue overwhelmingly passed by voters in the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, along with a donation of 47 acres of farmland valued at $3 million from an Iowa manufacturing entrepreneur.
School district representatives were joined by Grimes and Dallas Center city officials and contractors at the building site on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony. When it opens in August 2021, the school will accommodate 750 seventh and eighth grade students, with the ability to be expanded to handle up to 1,000 students. The new facility will be located at 1300 S.W. County Line Road, about a mile south of the high school.
“The school is part of our 5-12 Vision that provides us opportunities to create different types of spaces than what we’re used to in education,” said Scott Grimes, superintendent of the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District. The approach focuses on introducing students to career opportunities beginning in fifth grade, with an emphasis on business partnerships to help them to identify their passions by 12th grade.
The two-story, figure-eight-shaped building, which has a construction cost of $30.8 million, will have a courtyard within its two loops and encompass 158,000 square feet of space, including both a competition gym and a practice gym and tornado shelter.
“It will have more flexible spaces and open classrooms so that we can bring businesses in, as well as have students leave our facilities for part of the day to go to businesses as part of their learning,” Grimes said.
The district is also using the bond funding for a major renovation of the current middle school building to increase its capacity to 750 students by fall 2021, Grimes said.
Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of West Des Moines-based Engineered Plastic Components Inc., donated the land to the school district. The conversation with Kargarzadeh began about four years ago, Grimes said, and the business owner was interested in how he could support the district. The 47-acre site will also accommodate future plans for an additional elementary school for the district. The land was donated by his real estate and land-holding company, Hope K Farms Ltd.
With a degree in engineering from the University of Iowa, Kargarzedah founded EPC and has built the plastics injection molding company to a dozen manufacturing locations across North America, including plants in Grinnell and Kalona. Three years ago, Kargarzadeh donated the former Maytag headquarters complex in Newton to Des Moines Area Community College.
At Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Kargarzedah let his daughter, Hope, do most of the talking at the ceremony.
“I am very grateful that my family could donate this land,” said Hope, who will be a West Des Moines fourth grader this fall. “I love school myself, so I hope this school will help kids to do great things in the future.”
Construction has begun on a new middle school building in Grimes — made possible through a $46 million bond issue overwhelmingly passed by voters in the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, along with a donation of 47 acres of farmland valued at $3 million from an Iowa manufacturing entrepreneur.
School district representatives were joined by Grimes and Dallas Center city officials and contractors at the building site on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony. When it opens in August 2021, the school will accommodate 750 seventh and eighth grade students, with the ability to be expanded to handle up to 1,000 students. The new facility will be located at 1300 S.W. County Line Road, about a mile south of the high school.
“The school is part of our 5-12 Vision that provides us opportunities to create different types of spaces than what we’re used to in education,” said Scott Grimes, superintendent of the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District. The approach focuses on introducing students to career opportunities beginning in fifth grade, with an emphasis on business partnerships to help them to identify their passions by 12th grade.
The two-story, figure-eight-shaped building, which has a construction cost of $30.8 million, will have a courtyard within its two loops and encompass 158,000 square feet of space, including both a competition gym and a practice gym and tornado shelter.
“It will have more flexible spaces and open classrooms so that we can bring businesses in, as well as have students leave our facilities for part of the day to go to businesses as part of their learning,” Grimes said.
The district is also using the bond funding for a major renovation of the current middle school building to increase its capacity to 750 students by fall 2021, Grimes said.
Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of West Des Moines-based Engineered Plastic Components Inc., donated the land to the school district. The conversation with Kargarzadeh began about four years ago, Grimes said, and the business owner was interested in how he could support the district. The 47-acre site will also accommodate future plans for an additional elementary school for the district. The land was donated by his real estate and land-holding company, Hope K Farms Ltd.
With a degree in engineering from the University of Iowa, Kargarzedah founded EPC and has built the plastics injection molding company to a dozen manufacturing locations across North America, including plants in Grinnell and Kalona. Three years ago, Kargarzadeh donated the former Maytag headquarters complex in Newton to Des Moines Area Community College.
At Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Kargarzedah let his daughter, Hope, do most of the talking at the ceremony.
“I am very grateful that my family could donate this land,” said Hope, who will be a West Des Moines fourth grader this fall. “I love school myself, so I hope this school will help kids to do great things in the future.”
Construction has begun on a new middle school building in Grimes — made possible through a $46 million bond issue overwhelmingly passed by voters in the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, along with a donation of 47 acres of farmland valued at $3 million from an Iowa manufacturing entrepreneur.
School district representatives were joined by Grimes and Dallas Center city officials and contractors at the building site on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony. When it opens in August 2021, the school will accommodate 750 seventh and eighth grade students, with the ability to be expanded to handle up to 1,000 students. The new facility will be located at 1300 S.W. County Line Road, about a mile south of the high school.
“The school is part of our 5-12 Vision that provides us opportunities to create different types of spaces than what we’re used to in education,” said Scott Grimes, superintendent of the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District. The approach focuses on introducing students to career opportunities beginning in fifth grade, with an emphasis on business partnerships to help them to identify their passions by 12th grade.
The two-story, figure-eight-shaped building, which has a construction cost of $30.8 million, will have a courtyard within its two loops and encompass 158,000 square feet of space, including both a competition gym and a practice gym and tornado shelter.
“It will have more flexible spaces and open classrooms so that we can bring businesses in, as well as have students leave our facilities for part of the day to go to businesses as part of their learning,” Grimes said.
The district is also using the bond funding for a major renovation of the current middle school building to increase its capacity to 750 students by fall 2021, Grimes said.
Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of West Des Moines-based Engineered Plastic Components Inc., donated the land to the school district. The conversation with Kargarzadeh began about four years ago, Grimes said, and the business owner was interested in how he could support the district. The 47-acre site will also accommodate future plans for an additional elementary school for the district. The land was donated by his real estate and land-holding company, Hope K Farms Ltd.
With a degree in engineering from the University of Iowa, Kargarzedah founded EPC and has built the plastics injection molding company to a dozen manufacturing locations across North America, including plants in Grinnell and Kalona. Three years ago, Kargarzadeh donated the former Maytag headquarters complex in Newton to Des Moines Area Community College.
At Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Kargarzedah let his daughter, Hope, do most of the talking at the ceremony.
“I am very grateful that my family could donate this land,” said Hope, who will be a West Des Moines fourth grader this fall. “I love school myself, so I hope this school will help kids to do great things in the future.”
Construction has begun on a new middle school building in Grimes — made possible through a $46 million bond issue overwhelmingly passed by voters in the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District, along with a donation of 47 acres of farmland valued at $3 million from an Iowa manufacturing entrepreneur.
School district representatives were joined by Grimes and Dallas Center city officials and contractors at the building site on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony. When it opens in August 2021, the school will accommodate 750 seventh and eighth grade students, with the ability to be expanded to handle up to 1,000 students. The new facility will be located at 1300 S.W. County Line Road, about a mile south of the high school.
“The school is part of our 5-12 Vision that provides us opportunities to create different types of spaces than what we’re used to in education,” said Scott Grimes, superintendent of the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District. The approach focuses on introducing students to career opportunities beginning in fifth grade, with an emphasis on business partnerships to help them to identify their passions by 12th grade.
The two-story, figure-eight-shaped building, which has a construction cost of $30.8 million, will have a courtyard within its two loops and encompass 158,000 square feet of space, including both a competition gym and a practice gym and tornado shelter.
“It will have more flexible spaces and open classrooms so that we can bring businesses in, as well as have students leave our facilities for part of the day to go to businesses as part of their learning,” Grimes said.
The district is also using the bond funding for a major renovation of the current middle school building to increase its capacity to 750 students by fall 2021, Grimes said.
Reza Kargarzadeh, president and CEO of West Des Moines-based Engineered Plastic Components Inc., donated the land to the school district. The conversation with Kargarzadeh began about four years ago, Grimes said, and the business owner was interested in how he could support the district. The 47-acre site will also accommodate future plans for an additional elementary school for the district. The land was donated by his real estate and land-holding company, Hope K Farms Ltd.
With a degree in engineering from the University of Iowa, Kargarzedah founded EPC and has built the plastics injection molding company to a dozen manufacturing locations across North America, including plants in Grinnell and Kalona. Three years ago, Kargarzadeh donated the former Maytag headquarters complex in Newton to Des Moines Area Community College.
At Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Kargarzedah let his daughter, Hope, do most of the talking at the ceremony.
“I am very grateful that my family could donate this land,” said Hope, who will be a West Des Moines fourth grader this fall. “I love school myself, so I hope this school will help kids to do great things in the future.”
