Kids in the 3- to 5-year-old range dance during a Just For Kix class Monday at the new Just for Kix facility.

Since beginning in New Ulm in 1996, New Ulm’s Just for Kix (JFK) — a youth dance class organization — has had no permanent place to hold its classes.

“We’ve been all over the community in different locations, really needing a place that we can be at permanently,” Molly Reinhart, the director of the New Ulm chapter of JFK, said. “We have a lot of classes that run throughout the week and need a lot of availability that’s hard to find in other locations. We’ve been pushed around from here and there.”

Over the past several decades, JFK has been in the Marktplatz Mall, the Armory, Vogel Arena, the New Ulm Event Center, the Community Center, the Rolling Thunder Wrestling Facility, State Street Theater and several other spaces.

But that changed Sept. 2 as JFK now holds a space from September through the end of April for its classes at 120 3rd Street North, just past the railroad tracks in New Ulm’s Goosetown.

JFK has been looking for a more permanent place to hold classes for several years.

“[Kristi Andersen Loose] had been talking to a realtor about this location and was looking for someone to fill the spot,” Reinhart said. “I had been talking to realtors, ‘Just keep your eyes and ears open if you hear anything.’ That’s how we got connected.”

Andersen Loose, who is the head coach of the New Ulm Softball team, designed and owns the facility. Andersen Loose and Reinhart got together to discuss what could work best for the groups involved.

“It went from there and as far as designing it, it was the same process,” Reinhart said. “She asked what kind of things we needed out of it and also making it something she could use for other people as well.”

The facility will also be home to other local athletics groups as well, but during the months of September to April, JFK will be the primary occupants for its classes from Monday to Thursday.

“We’ll probably be the ones using it the most, especially during the school year during our dance season,” Reinhart said.

JFK hosts classes for kids from 18 months old all the way to seniors in high school. JFK offers kick, lyrical, jazz, hip hop and pom-style classes for all of those age ranges.

The building was constructed with JFK’s needs in mind, with the primary adjustment being a dividing curtain so that multiple classes can be held at one time.

“One of the main things was being able to take the big space that we had and being able to make two spaces out of it,” Reinhart said. “We do have classes that run at the same time, so that’s really important. The only way we would have been able to do it is if we were able to use separate studios at the same time. So she incorporated an accordion wall. We pull the accordion wall out and it splits into two smaller spaces.”

Other than that, the facility is home to restrooms, drinking fountains, plenty of mirrors and solid flooring for dance.

“Our needs were very minimal and it also worked for what she was looking at as well,” Reinhart said.

Now that JFK has a permanent space, JFK will no longer have to scramble for places to hold classes every year.

“We have so many classes that it was hard to find spots that were open as much as we needed,” Reinhart said. “So now that we can have it during our dance season exactly when we need it, we don’t need to work around anybody else’s schedule. It really opens up a lot of availability to when we can have classes and things like that.”

The building represents continued support for New Ulm youth athletics and activities, giving dedicated spaces for these activities to grow. Reinhart said she sees that movement continuing, with more support coming for New Ulm youth.

“I would hope so,” she said. “Nowadays, people put their kids in things and it keeps them busy and it keeps them active. There’s so many different options of what you’re doing, whether you’re doing something from the arts standpoint or something from a sports standpoint, anything like that, there’s so many different options and there’s a lot out there. I’m grateful that Kristi saw that need, because it’s been hard to find locations willing to work with people like us.”

Some details are yet to be finished on the building, and other facilities are being constructed for additional groups and activities later on. But Just for Kix is ready to go for this season and many more to come.