Levy the cheaper option for rural land owners

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News
It was a question that has weighed on District 777’s board of education for years: Should it find a new home for the Benson High School gymnastics program and get it out of the inadequate and unsafe space at the Benson Armory?

If it did vote for a change, how would it pay for renovating an existing space or for new construction?

This past December, the board of education made the decision that the program would get a new $1.5 million home either with voter approval or by board action. The facility, to be constructed to the north of the Benson High School and east of the football field, will also be used for other school activities.

Voters will have the first say on financing construction of the facility in a levy referendum set for next Tuesday. Voting at the Benson Armory will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If the voters reject the proposal, the school board will proceed with construction financed by a lease levy, a decision that has already been made.

The board has already received design plans for the facility so that it will be ready to start with construction soon after the vote April 14. If construction can start immediately after the vote, the gymnastics program should be able to practice and perform for part of next season in its new facility...
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