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Osseo board sees Crestview redesign as full rebuild; public bidding eyed Jan–Feb 2026
Summary
District staff and architects presented a design-development update for the Crestview site, saying the project has shifted from a repurpose to a full rebuild, with public bidding planned for January–February 2026 and anticipated occupancy in December 2027. Board members pressed staff on security, operations and staffing costs.
District officials and the project design team presented an updated plan for the Crestview site on Tuesday night, saying the work has moved beyond an adaptive reuse approach to a full rebuild that will house early-childhood programs and flexible community spaces. John Morrissette, the district’s executive director of finance and operations, said the shift allowed the design team to reengage the community and reset the project vision.
"What started as a repurpose and is now a complete rebuild," Morrissette said, summarizing the change in scope. The architects said contract documents are now the next step, with the district planning to go to public bid in January–February 2026 and an anticipated occupancy in December 2027. Staff noted the existing building will be demolished ahead of construction.
The presentation laid out program priorities intended for the facility: mandatory voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) that meets the state threshold, an American Indian Cultural Resource Center, family and community engagement spaces, a production kitchen and a large professional-development space that could host several hundred people. Board members asked detailed questions about how the facility will balance open community access with child safety, how pre-K spaces would be secured from public areas and how the district would staff and fund operations.
"The emphasis on safety and security…safety has to be top of the line for us," said Eric Foster, a school board member during the question period. Staff responded that the design includes multiple controllable entry points and that the VPK area will be a permanently secured zone with additional layers of enhanced glazing and vestibules where appropriate.
Officials said next steps include preparing an initial operating-cost model and staffing mock-up to present during the February budget cycle, and returning at a regular board meeting in February to request bid approval. The board did not take any formal votes at the work session.
