Thru the Waters: New exhibit looks back at Minnehaha Academy since explosion
Minnehaha Academy opens exhibit on fatal explosion
Minnehaha Academy's display, "Thru the Waters," examines the challenges the school faced after the natural gas explosion in 2017 that killed two people. FOX 9's Maury Glover has the full story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The tragedy was just "part" of the most recent chapter of the school's story.
Rough waters
Local perspective:
On the shores of the Mighty Mississippi, time can flow as quickly as the rushing waters of the river.
Minnehaha Academy has stood as a testament to education for more than 100 years, but like the body of water it sits above, some lessons learned aren't always visible on the surface.
Inside the school, a timeline of events from its first century in existence covers one of the walls.
But the last few years have changed the course of the academy forever.
"It wasn't just the explosion," said school archivist Elaine Ekstedt.
Ekstedt recently completed a new display she calls "Thru The Waters," inspired by a Bible verse from the book of Isaiah.
"When you pass through the waters, they will not overwhelm you. I am with you," said Ekstedt, paraphrasing the verse.
She says it chronicles the wave after wave of unexpected challenges the school has faced in recent memory that have finally left it standing on solid ground.
"We need to tell the story of this five, six-year period here, because this is a piece of the school's history that needs to be captured," said Ekstedt.
‘It came without warning’
The backstory:
One of those waves happened on August 2, 2017, when a natural gas explosion leveled much of the main building and damaged other parts of the school as well.
The blast killed receptionist Ruth Berg and part-time janitor John Carlson and severely injured several others.
Among the items on display, the shoes president Donna Harris was blown out of as she tried to find her way out of the building, after hearing about a possible gas leak.
"I just will never ever forget the sound that occurred, I don't know. People talk about it differently but it sounded just like this loud blast like a train or something and then immediately everything started falling and all of the walls disappeared, the ceiling, the cement ceiling," said Harris.
To her, they're a reminder of how fragile life can be, after a forensic engineer told her if she had taken another couple of steps, she probably wouldn't be here.
"I walk by that exhibit fast sometimes when I see them. Those shoes. It was just such an unbelievable thing that occurred that it will never leave your heart and mind, ever. So those shoes, I don't ever want to wear them again," said Harris.
Also on display, a pipe wrench bent by the force of the blast in the remnants of the boiler room, which was the epicenter of the explosion.
"It's been a wild ride. There's been lot of stuff that has happened. There's a lot of things that I've seen that make no sense. Solid steel doors that got blown 100 feet away across the campus from the boiler room. Just a lot of different things that it's just like, how does that happen," said Building Services Director Don DuBois.
The exhibit also showcases how the school had to move to an office building with no gym, no kitchen and one hallway in Mendota Heights for two years, before coming back to a rebuilt Upper Campus in 2019.
But they had to leave again a few months later as COVID-19 forced the school into distance learning in March 2020.
"Our community became very resilient," said Harris.
‘Walking off a cliff into the unknown’
What they're saying:
But in the midst of all the upheaval, there were silver linings.
The new building allowed the academy to resume in-person classes in the fall of 2020 because it had a state-of-the-art HVAC system and more room for students and staff to spread out.
Administrators also say navigating the aftermath of the explosion made the entire school community more responsive to handle the challenges that came with the pandemic.
"It's not the mountaintop experiences that help us grow, right? It's those valley experiences and challenges that cause us to grow and to persist and to have confidence the next time," said Harris.
From the sign and cornerstone out front to the stair treads in the lobby, there are elements of the old school in the new building.
Ekstedt hopes the rough waters of the last few years won't be making waves in the future.
"If you're going to give someone a tour of the school, go down the hall for the 100 years and then bring them back here. Because this is part of the story that needs to be told," said Ekstedt.