2 Years After Deadly Explosion, New Minnehaha Academy Close To Completion

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The end of the school year marks the beginning of a new chapter at one Minneapolis school.

A natural gas explosion destroyed the center portion of Minnehaha Academy's Upper School in 2017. Two staff members were killed in the blast.

"It's always been important for us in the design to incorporate our history into a new design," said Minnehaha Academy President Donna Harris.

When students walk through the halls this fall, they will walk on history into a new chapter.

READ MORE: Rising From The Ashes, Minnehaha Academy Remembers Deadly Explosion One Year Later

"So you actually see treads of our school, stair treads from 1913 that we have incorporated with the new treads," Harris said.

The explosion ripped apart the main stairwell, classrooms, parts of the library and the business office. The blast shook the entire building, and the community to its core.

Over the past two years, the rebuilding process has been steady, and now blueprints and plans are becoming reality. Two black olive trees are already in place in the atrium.

READ MORE: Contractor Fined $50K In Minnehaha Academy Gas Explosion

"Trees I think symbolize strength and unity and all of those things that we have been as a community," Harris said.

After the explosion, classes were temporarily relocated to the former Brown College campus in Mendota Heights. Graduating students weren't able to enjoy the new building, but that doesn't mean they aren't a part of it.

Beams bearing their signatures will serve as a permanent reminder of all the people this school has impacted.

The rebuilding is expected to be complete in time for the start of the new school year in August.