Changes Coming for Our Old High School or What 50 Million Will Do!
Friday, November 14th, 2008In September 2005 the Northfield School board approved the sale of the old middle school at fourth and union streets. Carleton College offered to buy the middle school and the facility was sold to Carleton College for $452,000.
The building opened its doors in 1911 as the Northfield Central High School. An auditorium wing was added in 1937 followed by an east wing/gymnasium in 1954. In 1966 it became the Northfield Junior High School and then Northfield Middle School in 1982. With construction of a new Middle School the last classes were held in the old school in 2004.
On October 14, 2008 Carleton College unveiled the plans for its proposed $50 million Arts Union facility to the public for the first time at an open house. Updates of Carleton’s vision for this space is for the building to be a workshop where artists are in collaboration with one another. They see it as a working facility populated by students, faculty, artists and community members. The site will put studio art, art history, cinema and media studies, English, dance, theater all together in one space. It will be called the Arts Union.
The following is an animation produced by Carleton College to show what the finished buildings will look like. It is quite impressive:
Construction was set to begin in mid-2009, but the current economic instability has forced Carleton to take a second look at their construction timeline.
Follow the updates, postings on Carleton College Arts Union website. There are several plans and designs to view.
posted by Pat Nelson & N. Larsen
