Maple Grove Planning Commission Tables High School Expansion Over Playground Concern
The Osseo Area School District has submitted plans to expand Maple Grove High School.
The expansion would include several multi-story additions to the high school, totaling 52,000 square feet, according to city planning documents.
The project has been in the works for months and is needed to address capacity concerns.
John Morstad, executive director of finance and operations with Osseo Area Schools, said growth has put the school about 300 students beyond capacity.
“The needs of our high school students in Maple Grove far exceed our current capacity,” said Morstad at Monday’s Maple Grove Planning Commission meeting. “We need to be able to expand with the growth we all know is coming in.”
The extra space would accommodate more classrooms, a larger cafeteria, an expanded locker room and weight room, and a larger main entrance that will route all visitors through the front office before they can enter the building.
A new drive aisle and parking lot at the north end of the school are also in the plans. The new access will allow a direct path to the sports dome parking lot, eliminating the need to cut through the existing school parking lot, city documents show.
Future plans, according to the documents, indicate either a roundabout or a traffic signal at the intersection of Fernbrook Lane and 99th Avenue North, where the new access is proposed, with construction beginning in 2026.
Darker yellow areas indicate where high school building expansion is planned.
Planning Commission Raises Playground Concern
The Maple Grove Planning Commission reviewed the project on Monday with several members expressing concern about the elimination of a playground.
According to school district officials and the lead architect, Wold Architects & Engineers, the playground needed to be removed to accommodate the new drive aisle and a stormwater retention pond.
Planning Commission member Mike Ostaffe expressed concerns about the removal, saying it’s widely used by families with younger children attending games and events at the high school during the summer and weekends.
“There has to be play areas for the kids of the families who are playing here whose parents bring one of them up to play soccer, what’s the other one going to do?” said Ostaffe. “That’s a significant concern of mine.”
Ostaffe noted that the city originally paid for the playground at a cost of close to $100,000.
Others agreed a playground should be there.
“While usage may not occur during the academic school year while high schoolers are in session, it does provide value to the community there and it was something provided by the city,” said Craig Lamothe, who chairs the planning commission.
The plans would also remove an outdoor basketball court, which is considered beyond repair.
The Maple Grove Planning Commission voted to table the project for two weeks to allow time for school and city parks officials to figure out where to put a new playground. The commission is expected to revisit the plans on Dec. 9.
Also See: Maple Grove High School Teachers Get Special Treat
Maple Grove Senior High School
