OUR OPINION: SCHOOL TOUR

Forestview Middle School, the "new kid" among Brainerd School District buildings, is just about ready to make its debut.

Motorists on County Road 48 have craned their necks and watched the structure go up and now it's close enough to completion for the school district to offer tours of the facility.

The tours are a great idea since the school would not have been constructed without voters' approval of a bond referendum. This is one way the Brainerd School District can thank residents who saw the need for facilities and technology improvements. The cost of the school is expected to be about $44.5 million.

Students, parents or those who are just plain curious can tour the facility starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. The last tour each day will begin at 5:30 p.m. Those interested in touring Forestview are asked to be at the school -- located at Crow Wing County Road 48, Mountain Ash Road and Mapleton Road South in Baxter -- between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. on the tour.

The school has already prompted at least one anonymous Vox Pop contributor in the Brainerd Dispatch to weigh in with an opinion that the school is too ornate. Others maintain similar criticisms are made of every new public building and it's important that quality work is done since the building will serve generations of students.

Response to the scheduled tours has been enthusiastic. We encourage all interested district residents to take a tour of the school. Decide for yourself what to think of Forestview Middle School.

It might be your last chance to walk through the building before the high-energy, high-volume influx of fifth-through-eighth-graders eventually settle into the new school.