Rapid City Area Schools breaks ground on new South Middle School

MOA team members joined Rapid City Area Schools administrators and personnel to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new 135,000-SF South Middle School. Located southwest of the city’s historic downtown district, the $68.5 million replacement middle school will set a new educational standard for the district upon its completion in 2024.

The groundbreaking marks an important step forward for the project, which has had a tumultuous history. Originally designed by MOA in 2014, the project was paused following an unsuccessful bond initiative. In 2020, another bond initiative again failed to receive the votes needed to secure funding. Undeterred, the school district sought alternative funding, eventually securing an array of funding sources, including COVID relief funds, that allowed them to proceed with construction.

In 2020, those funding sources enabled the District to restart the project, and MOA led a redesign of the existing drawings.

“The restart was actually a great opportunity to revisit the client’s vision and goals for the project,” said Brandon Daigle, MOA’s Principal-in-Charge for the project. “The updated design has a revised projected capacity of 1,250 students, almost double the capacity of the original design. We’re really excited to deliver this long-awaited project for the district.”