Beam raising held at new Beatrice Public Schools elementary project

BEATRICE - The last piece of structural steel has been raised on the a new southeast Nebraska prekindergarten to elementary school.
In a beam-raising ceremony Thursday morning, the new Beatrice Public Schools pre-K to fifth grade facility was celebrated. BPS Superintendent Jason Alexander says the ceremony marks a milestone in the construction process…completing the first phase of the project.

"This is a testament to the dreams and desires of this board of education and previous boards of education....who have worked very hard to make this come to fruition, for our students. And, to provide a learning environment that provides safe, secure, equitable and efficient learning spaces for our youngest learners. It's just an amazing project that we are continuing to build, both physically and insprirationally. As families, we raise our children with hopes and dreams of their future. And this, is where it all begins...this is where their hopes and dreams begin."

The $40 million school, going up in east Beatrice at 33rd and Lincoln, is projected to be opened in the fall of 2024.

School board members, the Beatrice Educational Foundation, ESU Number Five, teachers, young students, Pinnacle Bank representatives, Beatrice City officials and representatives of Hausmann Construction and Gilmore Bell Architects were among those participating and signing the last steel beam.

The ceremony was held near what will be the main entrance to the school…on the south side of the project. Prekindergarten will occupy the east side of the facility, with elementary grades to the west. There will be a second entrance from the north.....offices near the main south entrance, a centralized kitchen and commons area....and a gymnasium.

The new facility will replace four elementary school buildings constructed in the mid 1950s. The school will make use of a geothermal system to heat and cool the building….and will be a modern, secure environment tailored for today’s technology in the classroom.

Just recently, the City of Beatrice and Beatrice Public Schools reached agreement on how to finance improvements to both Lincoln Street and 33rd, which line the school property.