Apple Valley's Eastview High School Just Opened a 60,000-Square-Foot Activity Center

TLDR

• Eastview High School in Apple Valley cut the ribbon on its new Activity Center Wednesday, Aug. 26.
• It's 60,000 square feet across two levels, connected to the school by a heated glass hallway.
• Four full-size courts, 24 basketball hoops, a walking track, a weight room, and a storm shelter.
• Free community open house: 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.

The marching band was outside playing before 8 a.m. That's how Eastview High School opened its brand new Activity Center on Wednesday, Aug. 26. If you live in Apple Valley and you voted on the District 196 school bond back in 2023, this is the first building you get to see finished.

What Actually Got Built

The Activity Center is 60,000 square feet on two levels. It sits right next to the main school and connects to it through a glass hallway that's heated and cooled, so students can walk over between classes without going outside.

The main floor holds four full-size basketball courts. There are 24 hoops total — six per court. The floor is striped for pickleball and set up for volleyball and badminton too. Curtain dividers drop down so four different groups can use the space at once.

Upstairs there's a walking track. Downstairs there are straight running lanes and a strength-training room.

It's Not Just a Gym

This is the part people keep missing. The building was designed for a lot more than basketball practice.

There are spaces built for academic programs, art and band rehearsals, community education classes, and student clubs. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring in real daylight. There's a high-end sound system, touchscreen scoreboards, and pull-out bleachers.

There's also a built-in storm shelter and about 1,200 square feet of extra storage tucked under the mechanical areas.

School Board Chair Cory Johnson and Principal Bruce Miller both talked about that mix at the ceremony — wellness, arts, clubs, and academics under one roof instead of scattered across campus.

Who Showed Up

Superintendent Michael Bolsoni spoke first and pointed straight at voters.

"Today is an exciting day for Eastview, but it's also an important day for District 196," Bolsoni said. "Most importantly, I want to thank our community, whose support of the 2023 Building Our Future referendum made this center a reality."

Principal Bruce Miller had been watching this thing go up for over a year.

"I remember being here the first weekend of April 2025. I remember watching the safety fencing being installed and impatiently dreaming for this day to arrive," Miller said. "More than a year later, here we are admiring this beautiful new addition to our campus. Our students will learn here. They'll practice here. They will compete here."

State Rep. Erin Maye Quade — who graduated from Eastview — came out, along with Apple Valley Mayor Clint Hooppaw and Dakota County Board Member Mary Hamann-Roland.

Knutson Construction built it. Wold Architects and Engineers designed it, working with school staff.

Students Got In the Same Day

Nobody made them wait. Lightning student-athletes were on the new courts within hours of the ribbon cutting, breaking in the floors before the 2026-27 school year started.

That tracks with how competitive Eastview and its District 196 neighbors have been lately — south metro schools stacked the top of Minnesota's best-schools-for-athletes list this year, and District 196 racked up spring state championships on top of that.

The Bottom Line

You can go see it yourself. Eastview hosts a free Community Open House from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, wrapping up homecoming week. No ticket, no registration mentioned — just show up.

If you're in Apple Valley and your kid is at Apple Valley High School instead, your building opens mid-winter. We tracked the construction timeline for all four activity centers earlier this year, and the district keeps its own updates on its bond progress page. Eastview's school site is where event details land first.