Shovels big and small dug into the dirt Friday as children joined school and civic leaders, breaking ground on a $2.5 million expansion of the Alden-Conger School.

Construction on the joint school-and-community project is slated to begin this week, with plans for an opening in June 2009. Plans call for a new science room, community fitness center, gym, locker rooms, space for early childhood family education, and city offices.

Joe Guanella, superintendent of Alden-Conger, said he knew expansion was in the near future.

“We needed new classroom space for our science program,” Guanella said.

Parents of athletes at the school contacted Guanella and Paul Ragatz, athletic director, in February 2004, concerned about the small locker rooms and cramped weight room.

“We had been in the thinking stage for several years,” Guanella said.

Thinking turned to planning with the bequest of $300,000 from the late LaVerne Carlson, a lifelong Alden business and community leader.

“LaVerne would be very proud and happy to see this project come to pass,” said Roger Peterson, Carlson’s nephew. “He loved his community and was involved in so many things over the years.”

The Carlson gift was the seed money needed to get things rolling, said Joe Guanella.

“The city government wanted handicap-accessible office space, so they got on board with a $300,000 grant for the project,” Guanella said.

Strong public support resulted in the passing of a $1.8 million bond issue in November 2007. Eighty percent of local voters approved the levy, and serious planning could begin.

“We have had tremendous support from the people of this area,” said Gary Geesman, chairman of the Alden-Conger school board.

Alden-Conger schools have 461 students enrolled in K-12 classes, with 95 open enrollees from Albert Lea. There are 22 students from Alden-Conger who open enroll in Albert Lea.

Guanella cited good location, small class sizes, and an old-fashioned, small-school environment as reasons for his school’s success at attracting open enrollments.

“Every family has its own reasons for choosing the right school for their children,” Guanella said.

Alden Mayor Brad Behnke said Friday he is proud of his community and school district for supporting the project.

“I think it speaks very highly of our people,” Behnke said. “We should also thank the family of LaVerne Carlson.”

The public area of the new building will have a stairway and elevator leading to a walking track above the new gym. A fitness center with strength training and exercise equipment is available. There will be a key card system for entry to the public facility and a video camera monitoring system for security and safety purposes. Plans call for the public area to be available for use 24 hours every day.

One minor problem resulting from the project is finding a name for the new gym. “It is unusual for a small school district like ours to have three gyms,” Guanella said. “We call our two current gyms the new gym and old gym. Maybe we should name this newest one the LaVerne Carlson gym.”