(Spirit Lake)– Thanks to a major donation by a Spirit Lake industrial leader and entrepeneur, plans by the Spirit Lake School District to build a new performing arts center at the high school can finally get off the drawing board after years of delay.
Tom Bedell, Director of The Board of Spirit Lake-based Pure Fishing, announced Thursday evening he’s giving a six million dollar matching grant to help finance the project. The school district will need to come up with three million.
The facility will be named in honor of Bedell’s daughter, Sami…a 2000 graduate of Spirit Lake High School who was active in dance and music.
In announcing the gift, Tom Bedell stated that a new auditorium is well overdue for the Spirit Lake community. Bedell said the new facility will “not only provide an incredible resource to our children, but also as a resource for our community performing arts organizations, and for guest performances and entertainment”.
Tim Grieves, Spirit Lake Superintendent, and School Board President Beth Will expressed their thanks to Bedell for his generous gift.
Grieves says planning for the new performing arts center has kicked into high gear. Public input meetings were held throughout the day Thursday with the district’s architect and a consultant. They met with students, faculty and representatives of various community groups.
Grieves says additional public input meetings will be held during the planning process…expected to take about a year. Grieves says a steering committee will be formed to help oversee the project.
Construction is expected to start in 2005, with completion tentatively slated for the fall of 2007.
The one thousand-plus-seat facility will be built just east of the Spirit Lake High School.
