Education

Dakota Middle School

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Owner
Rochester Public Schools
Architect
LHB Inc. & CRW Architects
Service
Construction Manager, Construction Manager as Agency
City
Rochester, Minnesota
Size
175,866 SF
Year
2022

Dakota Middle School is the largest of 4 schools Knutson Construction is building for the Rochester Public School District as part of a $180.5 million referendum.

This project was $56 million dollars of the overall referendum budget and is a 175,866 square foot building at the NW edge of Rochester on a 30-acre parcel of land that overlooks the downtown skyline. The building includes 3 levels of classrooms, media center, residential and commercial teaching kitchen, group learn spaces, 500 seat auditorium, music wing with band orchestra and choir rooms, fitness room, locker rooms, and 3 gymnasiums (two are combined for the storm shelter capable of withstanding winds up to 250mph).

This 18-month project was recently awarded OSHA’s MNSHARP award and was turned over to the owner early June. Knutson was the CMa on the project with LHB as the main architect. This project was built on a green site which has glacial till below the top soil making for a very challenging excavation, utility install, and backfill being as this glacial till is so dense and hard to dig but would also turn to slime if it ever rained. The earthwork was one of many challenges the project faced however the largest and most impactful challenge was product procurement. Through early award and approvals, constant check-ins with suppliers, and creative workarounds on site keeping crews busy and efficient we were able to stay on schedule and hit our originally planned temporary certificate of occupancy date.

Awards:
• Minnesota Real Estate Journal's 2023 Real Estate Project Award Winner— Greater Minnesota
• MNSHARP Award

MNSHARP AWARD

Dakota Middle School Project Receives MNSHARP Award

Congratulations to the Rochester Public Schools Dakota Middle School project team on receiving the MNSHARP safety award. This is the first time this award has ever been received by any construction project in Rochester.

Learn more about the award here: KIMT3 News

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