OUR VIEW: Recipe for progress: Open mind

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As students, teachers and other staff get situated in the new classroom addition to the Hanson School in Alexandria, another project in the small town continues to churn forward.

Friday was the grand opening for the $1.4 million school renovation, which includes seven rooms and plenty of learning space for students in the school’s lower grades. Paid for through capital-outlay funds, the project apparently came in on budget and a few weeks ahead of the expected opening date of Jan. 1.

Now, we assume the focus in Alexandria will turn to the joint city/school library, for which fundraising continues. It was announced recently that the project was awarded a $309,000 community development block grant through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. That’s great news, and we know fundraising has been happening at the grassroots level, too.

The cost of the project is likely to be around $1 million.

So the small town of Alexandria has just completed a new wing on its school and is in the midst of work to get a new library constructed, all for the total price of $2.4 million — much of it coming from a state grant and local donations. What a great success story.

Spending money isn’t easy, especially during times like this. But progress takes money, and it also takes good people to organize these things and push them through.

Whether it’s the library/school project in Alexandria, the continual expansion of development offices in Howard, or even the proposed ideas to renovate the Corn Palace here in Mitchell, progress should — must — be on the minds of local leaders, boosters and residents.

It’s likely not everyone in Alexandria feels the school expansion and library projects are worthy of such funding or effort, but even opponents must be proud of the work that’s been accomplished.

We appreciate the work that’s been done recently in Hanson County, and the work that still looms in the form of that new library building. We also appreciate the open-mindedness of that county’s residents.

We urge the same kind of open-mindedness here in Mitchell. Big decisions loom, especially regarding the Corn Palace.

Progress doesn’t happen without open minds, open conversations and, sometimes, open checkbooks.

Tags: opinion, editorials, education, alexandria