St. Anthony school plans unveiled

Angie Faller
Effingham Daily News

May 08, 2008 03:47 pm

— Many interested parishioners and members of the public rushed through the rain and filled the crowded St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Parish Center to view plans for a proposed 48,000-square-foot kindergarten through eighth-grade school facility.
“This should excite everybody. I think we are the envy of the dioceses,” said Monsignor Leo Enlow.
As exciting as the plans for a new school are to the parishioners, they must first endure more than a year of construction. The new school will be built where the existing playground is located and will connect to Goff Gym, which will become a part of the new structure.
“Next year will be a very hard year for our students, parents and teachers. 2008-2009 is going to be a year for patience. We are going to be tested at times,” said Scott Kabbes, head of the Building Committee about the upcoming year of construction.
The following is a construction timeline provided during Kabbes’ presentation:
• June 1 — Groundbreaking ceremony
• June — Demolish existing stage and start foundation work on the classroom wing
• August — Complete concrete foundations
• October — Existing boiler and new gym heating system operational for the heating season
• January 2009 — Roof completed on the proposed school
• May 2009 — Start renovations to proposed kitchen and existing gym
• June 2009 — Demolish existing school structure and old boiler
• August 2009 — Building and site ready to open for school
“It’s pretty aggressive, a building this size in 15 months,” Kabbes said.
Enlow also said no one will be allowed in the school during the month of June.
“I want to keep everyone safe. We don’t know what will happen once construction starts. We have all the confidence in the world of our construction crews, but we’d rather be safe than sorry,” Enlow said.
The renovated basement will hold the cafeteria, new kitchen, janitorial storage area and teacher lounge. The first floor of the new school will hold two kindergarten rooms, seven classrooms, a teachers’ workroom, medical room, administrative wing, vestibule, conference room and locker rooms. The proposed second floor will hold 12 classrooms, two computer rooms, a storage room and two science labs.
The school also will hold new amenities the old school didn’t have, such as an elevator accessible to all three floors, a canopy for student drop off and pick up and a canopy over the sidewalk leading to the street crossing to the church.
Each teacher’s area will be equipped with two network connections, scanner, phone, computer and cable or TV connection, while each classroom will have three computers, a sound system, Smart Board and a wireless Internet and network connection.
The media center/library will have 84 percent more space and 8 percent more storage for books than the current library.
The school will spend an extra $300,000 to install a geothermal heating and cooling system, but Kabbes said they expect the system to pay for itself within five years.
Although the school is “designed in a manner to accomodate a future consolidated school,” there are currently no plans to consolidate Sacred Heart Grade School with the new St. Anthony Grade School. No future mention of consolidation was made during the presentation.
Kabbes said two pieces of property have been purchased by the church to accommodate parking.
One house at 310 E. St. Louis Ave. has already been torn down. That property will be used during construction and then turned into a parking lot. The other house at 412 N. Second St. will be torn down in May and turned into a parking lot for teachers during the 2008-2009 school year.
The playground equipment has already been torn down, but Kabbes said the children will be able to play in the gym and parish center parking lot. In addition, Effingham Unit 40 has given permission for St. Anthony Grade School students to use the playground at East Side Preschool next year.
During a question and answer session, Kabbes knocked down rumors the existing gym would not hold up when the rest of the school was demolished.
“We’re comfortable that the wall and structure will hold up,” Kabbes said.
Who is the architect?
Brett Stillwell of Architectural Spectrum in Champaign is the architect on the project and the general contractor will bid work out, Kabbes told the audience.
Kabbes said $5.2 million has been donated to the Education Fund and landscaping services for the new grade school have been donated.
Kabbes said the final cost of the construction of the school until final site plans are completed and the work is bid out.
While the church is not conducting specific fund-raisers for the school project, anyone who wants to donate can contact Kabbes or another member of the Building Committee.
Angie Faller can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or angie.faller@
effinghamdailynews.com.

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