About 40 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the $35.48-million project for the Greene County School District.

Greene County Schools Superintendent Tim Christensen thanked a number of different individuals and organizations for their contributions and help getting the project to come to fruition. Christensen recognized the group of individuals that came up with the idea to build a new high school, career academy, gymnasium, performing arts center, and eventually renovating the current high school into a middle school. Christensen also recognized the “Our Kids, Our Future, Greene County” committee and the voters of Greene County who passed the $21.48-million bond referendum.

Another group that was highlighted was the Greene County Board of Supervisors for contributing up to $5 million to build the career academy. The Greene County School Board was recognized for contributing $4.5 million toward building the gym and auditorium. Iowa Central Community College, which will be the entity that will staff and run the career academy, was also mentioned, along with Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation for their contribution toward the project. Greene County School Board President Dr. Mark Peters shared his thoughts following the windy, but well attended Monday morning event.

“This is a great project and we’re so excited to get this going and just to see this through. Hopefully we’ll get things done on time and it’ll be great for our kids and the future of Greene County.”

The projected date of completion for the high school and career academy is August 1, 2020, the gym is August 15th, with the auditorium to be done by October 1st.