Flood Control Buyouts Spark New Facility for Fargo Schools
New warehouse puts the behind the scenes operations under one roof
FARGO, ND — Flood control efforts sparked a new warehouse for the Fargo Public School District.
Officials said their new operations facility will help improve the lives of their students.
Faculty and staff are celebrating the end of a big move.
“Make sure our buildings are prepared and ready to go for students and the education they receive,” said Superintendent Dr. Jeff Schatz. “This operations center here makes that happen.”
The new $9.2 million warehouse, next to I-29 in South Fargo, replaces their former facility in downtown Fargo.
School district officials said they started this process roughly two years ago when the site of their old operations facility was bought out for flood control.
“We have newer and more upgraded systems which will help some of those operational costs and also give us some efficiencies by having all of our people in one location,” said Broc Lietz, Fargo Public School’s business manager.
The building has space for nutrition services, a print shop, office workers, vehicle maintenance, and supplies for their school buildings.
“This is where we house the people who do that work and deploy the people out to the buildings to make sure those things happen,” said Dr. Schatz.
A second floor takes advantage of the large space while planning offices are kept separate from the more noisy areas.
Having everything under one roof saves the district money.
Before the move, the district rented and leased other buildings for these operations.
“I believe the collaborative environment that we had with all of those who we worked with was very good,” Dr. Schatz said. “In the end, I think everybody was very pleased with the outcome.”
The new beginning allows the school district to spend less money on space for a more efficient workflow to focus on the students.
Leitz said the Diversion Authority and the Cass County Joint Water Resource District helped fund the new warehouse.
