New Richmond, Wisconsin High School (Photo: WIXK)
The new high school in New Richmond is the centerpiece of the largest school construction referendum ever passed in Wisconsin, and students entering the new building for the first day of classes on Thursday seemed a bit overawed by the school’s size. “It’s really big, too big,” said one. “It’s really big and confusing,” was another’s reaction. “I’m sure there are things that keep popping up,” said Principal Jeff Moberg. “We’ve got a number of people who are just helping put out some of the fires and making sure things are working the way we want them to, and I’m sure in a couple of weeks we’ll have things smoothed out. Moberg, who for the last four years has doubled as principal and liaison with contractors working on the new school, added that the high school is “about 99 percent complete.”
Voters in the New Richmond district passed a $92 million referendum in 2007. The high school cost about $57 million. The building has a capacity of 12-hundred students (2nd photo). New Richmond currently has about 850 students in the ninth through twelfth grades. A formal dedication ceremony is scheduled for October 2nd. The building referendum also approved a new elementary school, remodeling of two existing elementary schools and the remodeling of the old high school.
