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Sprucing up the school Murals, door coverings will go inside and out on the Ely campus
The main entrance to Ely’s school campus as well as parts of the interior will be spruced up - following action by board members earlier this week.
The board approved the placement of murals and door coverings outside the main entrance - as well as in the commons area and hallways in both the Washington and Memorial building.
Those entering the main doors will see Ely’s wolf logo on the outside sign on the new addition to the campus, as well as on the main door entering the facility.
That door also will also have the word Timberwolves over the top.
A similar set-up is in store on the south wall of the commons area and inside the main door, and selected hallways inside the building will also feature the logo or TIMBERWOLVES in large capital letters.
The project will be funded by a $20,000 donation from the Ely Education Foundation and evolved from earlier discussions by the group to perhaps install an electronic sign outside the school buildings.
“This is something they wanted to put their money toward,” said superintendent Anne Oelke. “It started many years ago with some sort of electronic sign and it kind of morphed into this.”
The coverings also bring an additional benefit, which Oelke explained after earlier discussions with representatives of the Ely Police Department.
“We did have conversations about those front doors and they feel (the signs and door coverings) offer a little bit more protection for us inside. You can’t see in but we can see out.”
The murals and door coverings figure to add more flavor to the buildings and come on the heels of more than $20 million in improvements to district facilities, including the construction of the new building that houses the commons area, district offices and serves as the primary entrance to the campus.
“It’s something they (EEF) want to spruce up the place a bit and get our blank spaces with our logo,” said Oelke.
The move came with a strong endorsement from board member Tom Omerza.
“One school that I see that has it is MIB (Mt. Iron-Buhl),” said Omerza. “It’s very impressive walking into that school, and what they did is very similar to this.”
Omerza said the logo and branding also serve to promote the district.
“You’ve got families moving here and looking to potentially move to this school and this says ‘Hey, we’re proud of this facility’ and it starts with the front door,” said Omerza.
