Breaking ground for the new ag building at WBHS

Phase two begins with new construction at all three sites
By: 
Miriam Nelson
News Editor

WITTENBERG — About 50 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 18 celebrating the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District’s second and more expansive phase of improvements, approved in November’s referendum.

On hand for the ceremony, held on the east side of the high school, were several school board members, representatives from Hoffman Planning, Design and Construction, Inc., students and community members.

In his opening remarks, Superintendent Garrett Rogowski reminisced about the work that has already been done in phase one. He hopes next phase will go as smoothly.

“With a 57% voter approval rate, it’s great to have that kind of support from the community,” said Rogowski.

In November, taxpayers voted to approve the $13.1 million referendum. The first phase addressed security and entrance issues in all three properties. Phase two will add classrooms to both Wittenberg and Birnamwood schools. An ag building will be built next to the high school, and major internal upgrades will be made to the high school building. The construction project will wrap up by the end of summer 2020.

“We’re really excited this is coming to fruition. It will be a busy and noisy school year, but everyone is willing to be flexible,” said Rogowski.

For Jody Andres, K-12 market leader/senior project architect at Hoffman, this project has been an enjoyable one. He’s been doing this work for 25 years for countless other school districts.

“We were in this for the long haul,” Andres said. “We’ve enjoyed every moment and are proud to be a part of this project.”

He noted that since he started working with the district four years ago, there were many moments — from the passing of the referendum to this ground breaking — that marked significant turning points toward the goal of providing an optimal learning environment for the students.

Board President Chuck Wendler recalled the process of picking Hoffman as the construction firm in 2015. The board’s main requirement, he said, was that they wanted things done right the first time. To that end, Hoffman employees attended many public meetings and were diligent in providing answers to help the board make the best decisions possible.

“It takes a community to have a great school,” Wendler said, crediting the citizens of the district for having the highest survey reply rate of any Wisconsin district that year. “That’s commitment.”

High school FFA President Tyler Giddings was on hand to represent the other members of the organization. Although he is a senior this year and won’t be able to enjoy the new classrooms, he’s excited for future students who will reap the benefits of this building.