Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mounds View board previews Pinewood geothermal, turf installations and districtwide summer repairs
Summary
The school board heard a summer-operations preview outlining routine repairs, Pinewood Elementary’s geothermal conversion (including drilling two wells and boiler conversion), temporary relocation of Pinewood summer programming, and athletic field turf installations at both high schools.
The Mounds View School Board on March 10 heard a detailed preview of planned 2026 summer facilities work including a geothermal conversion at Pinewood Elementary that will replace domestic water lines, drill two wells and convert boilers from steam to hot water.
Darren Johnson, the district’s executive director of school management, told the board the work ranges from routine maintenance — painting, flooring, concrete and curb repairs, seal-coating and restriping of parking lots, cabinetry repairs and door/fob replacements — to larger projects at specific schools. "Bigger projects at Pinewood Elementary School, the 2026, will begin the geothermal project," Johnson said, and added the phase includes a library and classroom remodel and related bathroom work.
The district said there will be no summer programming at Pinewood in 2026; Pinewood students’ summer programming will be moved to other district schools for the season. Johnson also outlined reconstruction in the Mounds View High School science wing to create modernized learning spaces, and confirmed plans to add turf to the Mounds View baseball infield with additional future auxiliary turfed fields planned at both Mounds View and Irondale high schools to expand practice and game locations.
Board members also noted the district’s ongoing LED lighting retrofit, funded through a guaranteed energy savings contract: "This project —will turn our lighting system into 100% LED by retrofitting our bulbs and fixtures," Johnson said, reporting that Snail Lake Education Center and Bel Air Elementary are complete, Mounds View High School is approximately 50% finished, and remaining schools are scheduled for completion by July.
Board members and staff characterized the projects as aimed at long-term efficiencies and improved learning environments. The board did not take a separate vote on individual summer projects at the March 10 meeting; the presentation was a preview of scheduled work and its operational impacts, including the temporary relocation of Pinewood summer programming.
Next steps: project phasing and contractor coordination will continue through spring; the district expects site-specific notices to affected families and schools before construction begins.
