Mitchell School District Fine Arts Center
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Who, what, where, when, why?
The students of the Mitchell School District…
…need a fine arts center to better meet the needs of instrumental music, vocal
music, musicals and plays, debate and speech, student assemblies and other fine
arts programming…
Where? …which could be located at the end of Burr Street and be attached to the current
MCTEA Building, allowing the use of rooms already existing there…
When? …through a construction project which would be completed for full use by the fall of
2016...
Why?
…because the current facilities are simply inadequate to meet our student
programming needs and because a new facility could be a useful and enhancing
addition which would provide a marked improvement in our overall school
culture, and begin the replacement of the current high school.
Who?
What?
2. Why are we discussing a new fine arts center?
We’re discussing it for a number of reasons:
First, the high school is now our oldest school building. It isn’t ancient by any means but
replacing a high school is the greatest facility challenge of any school district because it is very
expensive. One solution to this is to replace it in phases over time so that the burden at any one
time is manageable. There are three great users of floor space in a school building: gymnasia,
career and technical education labs, and the fine arts. We’ve already dealt with the career and
technical education footprint by moving it into the MCTEA building and renovating that
building with some local and mostly state grant dollars. If we can now address the fine arts
center, we will have eliminated 2/3rds of the largest square footage needs for the high school
when it becomes time to replace it, around the mid- to late-2020s. This will make replacing the
main high school building much more logistically and financially feasible.
Second, while we arguably have the best fine arts program in the State (and yes, we are biased on
that point), we have probably the worst fine arts facilities among the larger schools. The seating
is inadequate, old, and in tough shape. (The seats were moved from a city facility into our
auditorium a couple of decades ago.) The lighting and sound system is older and largely
inadequate. The acoustics are poor. Due to underground issues, at certain times of the year, a
decomposing, swampy odor seeps into the auditorium. We have taken steps to eliminate this
problem and the results have been positive but the problem remains at least part of the time.
Additionally, no air conditioning exists for the band and chorus rooms, practice rooms, or
auditorium, making these facilities unusable on a few particularly hot days. While AC could be
installed, it would come at a very significant expense. When we look at the facilities enjoyed by
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students from, for example, Brandon-Valley, Pierre, and O’Gorman, it quickly becomes evident
that our facilities simply don’t meet the needs and desires of our fine arts program.
Third, education since the inception of open enrollment in the 1990’s, has entered an
increasingly competitive environment. If we want solid student enrollment, if we want ‘Kernels’
to be a designation that means something consistently positive, then we need to provide our
students consistently positive facilities.
Fourth, our fine arts facility serves not just the high school but also the middle school which
lacks an auditorium completely and each of our elementary schools. Thus, the building is
pulling multi-duty and when we construct a new, sound fine arts center, we are doing so not just
for the high school but all of our attendance centers and outside groups who use it as well.
3. So why not just renovate the auditorium?
It is essentially impossible to economically renovate the auditorium in such a way as to increase
seating so that we can start garnering some state events or even fit our entire high school student
body in it. Additionally, if we do renovate the facility, we wind up with a 1962 auditorium that
has been renovated. There comes a point where a structure is too far down the road of its useful
life to renovate in a fiscally responsible way. Given the limitations and age of the current
auditorium, renovation is probably less than a reasonable option. Finally, renovating a building
with the current one’s negatives lacks vision. We need a fine arts facility that can enhance our
programming rather than just stop hobbling it. Building a new fine arts center will do just that.
Renovating the current one won’t and such an inadequate renovation simply isn’t a good way to
spend district resources.
4. What tax increase will the fine arts center replacement necessitate?
Zero. The Mitchell School District has worked hard over the last couple of decades to provide
sound educational facilities within the current capital outlay structure, which assesses $3.00 per
thousand dollars of taxable valuation. We would finance the construction of the Fine Arts Center
out of capital reserve certificates, essentially borrowing against the $3.00/thousand capital outlay
levy revenues for future years.
5. Will the use of those capital outlay dollars to pay off the debt for the fine arts center
leave other needs of the district unmet?
It is, of course, true that every purchase you or the school district makes comes with an
opportunity cost, sacrificing something else you could have purchased with the same dollars.
Nevertheless, the district plans for major buildings, grounds, equipment needs on a regular basis
and the amount of money required to be set aside each year to pay off this debt will not interfere
with these. For example, sufficient dollars will still be available for 1:1 technology programs,
textbooks rotations every 7 years, debt obligations for past construction (Longfellow, stadium at
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Joe Quintal, etc.), and ongoing maintenance projects such as parking lot repairs/replacement.
The capital outlay budget will still be manageable with the addition of the debt necessary to build
a fine arts center.
6. Is borrowing money now and going into debt for this facility a good idea?
Yes, interest rates are at historically low levels right now and there is no guarantee what interest
rates will be in the future. If organizations have the need for new facilities, now is the time to
borrow money and build them. Low interest rates mean that you get more building for your
dollar.
7. At one time, the School District was seeking private donations for the facility. Is it
still doing so?
Yes, in fact it is. While no major donor (defined as $1-$3 million for which various naming
rights would have been granted) was secured, a number of people and groups have offered
assistance. We will be working with those people as the project progresses.
8. You’ve mentioned that the Fine Arts Center is important for our existing
programs. Will it possibly host events new to Mitchell?
The Mitchell School District has a problem with getting certain activities in our community
because of our sub-par facilities. The Mitchell hospitality industry has trouble renting rooms
from January-March, our annual nadir period for the local economy. While it won’t make a
dramatic change, it will have a positive effect on both. Bringing, on occasion, all-state band, allstate jazz band, state honors choir, state large ensemble music contest, regional large ensemble
music contest, one-act play, state debate tournament, state show choir competition, possibly
show choir camps, etc. to Mitchell would be a boon for our programming and students and
would definitely boost economic activity in Mitchell during the down time. It’s not the solution,
but may very well be part of the solution.
9. Why not utilize the Corn Palace for such activities?
The Corn Palace is an incredible facility for any number of activities. Through the joint use
agreement between the City and the School District, we are allowed 20 activities there each year
at no cost. We actually exceed that number every year, by 3-5 depending on the year, and spend
a very reasonable number of dollars to use the facility beyond that maximum number. But, in
truth, the Corn Palace isn’t an entirely suitable venue for some fine arts programs. Because it
lacks a sufficiently tall fly space (the ‘Heavens’ above the stage where backdrops and major
curtains ‘fly’ out of the viewing space of the audience), because the stage is not deep enough for
some programs, because the stage is so high off the floor where the audience sits, and because it
lacks a pit for supporting instrumental productions, the Corn Palace really isn’t a suitable place
for theatrical productions or honor choirs/bands. (This isn’t a criticism of the Corn Palace; no
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facility can be all things to all people.) Additionally, many of our regular programs, such as
school plays and musicals, chorus concerts, band concerts, class meetings, etc. can’t reasonably
be moved to the Corn Palace because of distance, current demands on the Corn Palace schedule,
and suitability of the facility. Also, the lion’s share of the school’s facility use is for practices and
rehearsals and these can’t reasonably be moved to Corn Palace because of transportation issues
and Corn Palace scheduling. Our current high school auditorium is used not just by the high
school but also by the middle school, our elementary schools, and even one of our private
schools. A new, better facility would float the boat of all of these schools as well and none of
these programs could really be moved into the Corn Palace.
10. In the event the Fine Arts Center is actually built, what is the timeline for its
construction?
Providing specific dates for various steps in the project is all but impossible though we do have a
general outline of how we think it might all transpire. Assuming that the Mitchell Board of
Education continues to approve each successive step in the construction project, they would
move forward along these lines:
A. June 9, 2014: School Board approves hiring of an architectural firm for the design of
the fine arts center.
B. June-October, 2014: District secures long-term funding agent for the project.
C. June-December, 2014: FAC Building Designs/Specifications are completed and bid
documents are issued.
D. Winter, 2014-15: Construction bids are approved by School Board.
E. Spring/Summer, 2015: Construction begins.
F. Fall, 2016: Fine Arts Center opens for business on the first day of class, 2016-17
school year.
11. Will the construction of a Fine Arts Center require the closure of Capital Street as
previously discussed?
No. The location of the Fine Arts Center at the north end of Burr Street means that closing
Capital is no longer necessary and is no longer being requested. We continue to be concerned
about student safety when crossing Capital but the Mitchell Department of Public Safety has
taken strong, proactive steps to address these concerns.
12. How was the 1200 seating capacity for the Fine Arts Center arrived at?
This number was based upon the desire to hold all-school meetings in a single school facility
(which the current auditorium cannot manage) and the needs of various possible state events
which can hopefully be brought in. As elementary enrollments have increased over the past few
years, we are now naturally expecting enrollment increases at middle and high school. Such
increases would then demand a 1200 seat capacity for the auditorium.
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