NOTRE DAME KICKS OFF FUND DRIVE

A two-phase fund-raising plan is about to kick off for the projected construction of Notre Dame High School.

Project co-chairman Steve Dirnberger said the six-month effort to raise as much as $5 million will have to be broken up to ensure a maximum coverage of potential contributors.

The first phase, which is scheduled through the summer, is the advanced gift, or quiet phase, Dirnberger said. This part of the fund-raiser will not require as big a staff of volunteers, but will be essential to building the necessary momentum to carry the effort into the fall and phase two.

Fall will see initiation of the public phase, which will involve contacting "everyone we can think of" for donations, Dirnberger said. That phase will conclude in December, and Dirnberger said he hopes to have a significant portion of the needed funds at that time.

The Cape Girardeau-Springfield Catholic Diocese requires at least half the money needed for construction to be in the bank before the project can begin. The balance has to be locked in as pledges, Dirnberger said.

The school is to be built on a 40-acre lot near Route K and Hitt Road, west of the Cape Girardeau city limits. It would replace the Notre Dame High School at 1912 Ritter.

The fund-raiser will require the efforts of at least 50 people and as many as 80 during the public phase. Dirnberger said his group is being assisted by an advisory group called Routolo and Associates.

In addition to the fund-raising effort, Dirnberger and co-chairman John Layton have been working with the eight-person building committee, which is studying the best possible way to construct the school once the money has been raised. The building committee has been meeting every Thursday since early May and is preparing everything from water and sewage service to the most appropriate form of architecture for the buildings.

Dirnberger said the "best-case scenario" for the project has construction beginning in spring 1997 and the doors opening for class in September 1998.

"Our hope is, if we succeed in getting the support we need, God willing, we'll start construction in the spring," Dirnberger said. "With that in mind, we want to have every decision made in advance."