Grand Meadow Public Schools is moving forward with a new physical education complex after area voters passed a $3 million bond referendum for the project earlier this week.

Grand Meadow Principal Paul Besel said district officials will meet with architects over the next few weeks to discuss the 37,000-square-foot project. If all goes well, the $6 million project could start in the spring and open in time for the 2016-2017 school year.

“It’s very exciting to get support from our community to move forward,” Besel said.

The project was made possible by a $3 million donation to the district earlier this year, after voters turned down a $13.7 million referendum to build a new school and phy ed complex to accommodate Grand Meadow Public Schools’s rapidly growing student population.

The donation came with two stipulations: District officials couldn’t ask for a bond referendum that cost more than the $3 million donation, and a proposed walking track on the original phy ed complex designs needed to stay in place for the future project.

Though the district is in need of more classrooms, Besel said the new complex was “our No. 1 priority” as the district could free up space for more extracurriculars. In addition, the upcoming complex project could include four classrooms and a weight room for an additional $400,000.

Besel said district officials hope to raise the extra money through district reserves, Grand Meadow’s education foundation, fundraisers and potential cost savings during construction.

“The district is in a really unique situation,” he said. “We’ve got four options, or a combination of four of those options to pay for those additions without going to the taxpayers.”

The four classrooms would help school officials shift space around to make room for additional elementary classes, as Grand Meadow’s elementary student population is growing faster than other student segments.

Though the complex is the first of three phases — district officials had initially proposed a middle school/high school addition and an elementary school addition — district officials hope the complex project will accommodate Grand Meadow’s growing population for the next 10 years.