Construction begins on the additional gym at Aspen Ridge Middle School in Ishpeming Township. The project should finish by the end of 2025. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

ISHPEMING – The middle school gym at the NICE Community School District has begun construction and is set to finish by the end of 2025.

“It’s mostly just groundwork right now,” said Superintendent Brian DeAugustine. “The ground is torn up there by Aspen Ridge and they have laid down a new base for the road.”

Construction for the two middle school and two elementary school classrooms have not begun yet, but will start after the last day of the school year on Friday. The classrooms will be finished by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.

“One of the things is, now for phys-ed classes, we drop the curtain so you have one class on one side and one class on the other,” said DeAugustine. “As you can imagine, little kids, middle schoolers, are pretty loud. So two different teachers are trying to conduct these classes in the gym divided by a curtain.”

After completion, the middle school and elementary will have their own gyms, and that will help with band and choir performances. There will be plenty of intermixing especially within the sports offered at NICE.

“For instance, when the band wants to get ready for a concert, the middle school band can set up in the gym and not be disturbed,” DeAugustine said. “Before, it was so tight because there is only one gym and you had double PE classes trying to happen and get ready for a concert, this would give us a lot more options. Middle school dances can take place there and of course extracurricular activities. We have a lot more sports than we ever had before.”

When the school was founded in 1974, it consolidated seven schools into one, and each of those schools had their own gymnasium, but once consolidated they had to share a singular one, DeAugustine said. Finally, the district will now have a second gym. The money will be borrowed from the sinking fund and will be paid off over the next 10 years.

“We feel really lucky to be able to provide this for our students,” DeAugustine said.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.