No. 3: Albert Lea High School

Concerts. Theater. Athletics. Homecoming. Graduation. Learning. These are just some of the things that happen at Albert Lea High School.

Because of this, Albert Lea High School comes in at No. 3 on the Tribune’s list of 25 favorite places of Albert Leans.

While school might not be near the top of a student’s list of favorite places, the community flocks to the school’s auditorium and gymnasium for a wide range of events from Homecoming coronation to FFA parliamentary procedure practice. Students and parents go to the school for swim meets, wrestling, tennis matches, musicals, soccer practice, volleyball and basketball games, Blue Zones meetings, Prom, Albert Lea Civic Music concerts — all kinds of things.

Fifteen classes have graduated from the present-Albert Lea High School and the alumni has pride in their school. The former school was on Clark Street and was torn down in 2006.

The high school at 2000 Tiger Lane along Hammer Road was completed in 2000 under then-Principal Al Root.

Root, who worked with Albert Lea Area Schools for 26 years, retired in August 2012. He was succeeded by Jim Wagner. In July, Wagner went on to become a superintendent in Kimball and was succeeded by Mark Grossklaus, who came to Albert Lea from the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.

The school recently had Homecoming Week, where Connor Larson and Anna Englin were crowned royalty in front of an auditorium full of students, staff and community members.

Last spring, the community filled the gymnasium as it watched the class of 2014 graduate and listened to speeches by graduates Zachary Lind and Julia Otten.

Next month, students will be performing the fantasy musical “Into the Woods” at the high school auditorium. Show choir members will begin practicing for their spring concert at the end of October. Plenty of band, orchestra and choir concerts are sprinkled in between.

The school is also a source of pride for members of the community. In a public forum conducted by the school board on Sept. 23, community members in attendance said Albert Lea is known for its high school building.

The school has 128,370 square feet of space and sits on a 21.14-acre campus. With Hammer Complex’s acreage of 58.53, the school and athletic fields sit on 79.67 acres.

The school has 70 classrooms, an auditorium, a library, a 25-yard-long swimming pool, gymnasium, weightlifting facility, wrestling room, locker rooms, greenhouse, lobby, administrative offices, commons, a wood and a metal shop and four computer labs, among other facilities.

There are 1,173 students at Albert Lea High School and 144 people who work in the building.

 

25 favorite places 

The Tribune staff compiled what it feels are the 25 favorite places of Albert Leans. The results will be published over the course of the coming week. What will be No. 1? Agree or disagree, it will be enjoyable to mull over and discuss. Send feedback to letters@albertleatribune.com.