Mille Lacs Academy to stay in Onamia
It's official. Nexus will build Mille Lacs Academy's new campus in Onamia, Minnesota.
Mille Lacs Academy provides residential treatment for males ages 10 to 19, and for the past 17 years it has leased a Crosier facility located in Onamia, a rural community about 75 miles north of Minneapolis. Last year, Nexus began looking for a location to build a brand-new campus. "We want to build a treatment facility that better suits the needs of our youth and their treatment," stated CEO Jim D'Angelo, who had narrowed the search to Brainerd Regional Human Services Center campus and several parcels of land in or near Onamia.
D'Angelo said it was a tough decision, but after much deliberation, the Nexus Board of Directors decided not to move Mille Lacs Academy to Brainerd, and instead will relocate the campus to a 40-acre site on the outskirts of Onamia. D'Angelo said the site preparation costs and the failure to receive a property tax exemption made relocation to the Brainerd campus too expensive.
Nexus chose the property in Onamia for many reasons, but mostly because it provides privacy, a sense of security and peace, and it is big enough to allow for future expansion. Also, the price of the land is reasonable.
The brand-new $10 million campus will include an on-campus school and
gymnasium, dormitories, program and office space, and a kitchen cafeteria
area. Nexus hired Widseth, Smith and Nolting, a Brainerd architectural
firm, to design the campus. Construction will begin in the fall of 2007
or early spring of 2008 with plans to vacate the Crosier facility by December
of 2009.