NOTRE DAME SITE SELECTED; $5 MILLION CONSTRUCTION FUND DRIVE UNDER WAY

Notre Dame High School will move out of Cape Girardeau, but it won't be for some time.School officials announced Friday that a new high school will be built on a 40-acre site at Route K and Hitt Road, just east of County Road 206 and about two miles west of Interstate 55."We are very excited today to stand on the 40-acre tract that will be the future site of Notre Dame High School," said Sister Mary Ann Fischer, principal of the private, Catholic school, while showing the site to reporters Friday morning.The site, an undeveloped grassy field, was donated to the school by the James L. Drury and Wanda L. Drury Family Trust. It was one of several considered by a committee studying possible locations for the school. Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese approved the site Thursday.Fischer said the decision to move Notre Dame outside of the city limits is intended to reflect the regional nature of its enrollment."Students come to Notre Dame High School from a radius of 45 miles in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, so we were looking for a regional location," Fischer said."This location will be accessible for all our students, and considering the future development of the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Gordonville areas, within 10 years this location should be in the heart of that development."A 90,000-square-foot structure is planned, and no architect has yet been commissioned to design the school. No timetable is set, and it could be years before construction begins.With the site chosen, efforts will shift to raising money for construction. The project is expected to cost around $5 million.Notre Dame has hired a consulting firm, Ruotolo Associates Inc., to assist in the fund-raising effort. Steve Dirnberger, co-chairman of the school's fund-raising committee, said the capital campaign will begin in June.While the diocese may choose to contribute financially to the project in the future, for the time being it will remain a local effort, said Dirnberger. School officials said strong community support will drive the project.Mike Jansen, co-chairman of the site selection committee, said private schools such as Notre Dame benefit the entire community by easing overcrowding and expenses for public schools."Private education has a significant impact on property taxes," Jansen said. "Area private institutions from the elementary to the secondary level educate approximately 20 percent of area students. If those schools did not exist, property taxes for public schools would have to increase."Said Fischer: "The entire community benefits from the presence of two strong secondary-educational systems in our midst: parochial and public. For this endeavor to be successful, we need the support of the entire business, professional, educational and family communities."Faced with steady annual increases in enrollment, a committee formulating long-range plans for Notre Dame recommended replacing the school at 1912 Ritter Drive, which opened in 1953."We have outgrown that facility and we made the decision about a year and a half ago to try to build a new building rather than expand the current one," Fischer said.Enrollment at Notre Dame has jumped 47 percent since 1991, and is expected to rise another 6 or 7 percent next year, Fischer said.Enrollment this year in grades nine through 12 stands at 335 students. The proposed facility would accommodate 500 students.Preliminary plans call for a building with more classrooms; a more prominent chapel area; a larger library and media center; upgraded science, art and business facilities; and a larger gymnasium and auditorium. New athletic fields are also planned.The future of the existing school is uncertain. Fischer said a number of possible uses are under consideration.No target date is set for completion of the school because every remaining step is dependent on the success of fund-raising activities. According to guidelines set by the diocese, at least 50 percent of the estimated cost of a construction project must be in the bank before actual work can begin."We would like to do it as soon as possible, but we will have to wait until the money rolls in," Dirnberger said.

HISTORY OF NOTRE DAME

1925 -- St. Mary's High School was founded with the purchase of old St. Francis hospital at Sprigg and William by the Rev. Eberhardt Pruente, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church. The building was constructed in 1878 for the Sisters of St. Francis as a hospital.

Sept. 1, 1925 -- St. Mary's High School opened with one teacher and 14 pupils. Only freshman courses were taught.

June 9, 1929 -- St. Mary's High School sent forth its first graduates: six girls and two boys. The school occupied the south wing of the hospital. It was made up of four well-equipped classrooms, an assembly room, a well-stocked library, a laboratory equipped for general science and chemistry, a gymnasium and music room.

1950 -- A 15-acre site on Caruthers Avenue just north of Broadway was purchased from the Wulfers family for a new Catholic high school.

1951 -- A.F. and Arthur Stauder were retained by Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter of St. Louis as architects for the new school.

June 21, 1953 -- Ground-breaking ceremonies were held for the Cape Girardeau Catholic High School. John B. Cody, auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, officiated.

Feb. 22, 1953 -- Fund drive to finance construction of the school began. About $308,000 in pledges were obtained. Alois J. Zimmer Jr. was general chairman of the drive.

Nov. 1, 1953 -- The cornerstone of the new school was blessed by Charles H. Helmsing, auxiliary bishop of St. Louis.

Sept. 13, 1954 -- Classes began at the new school. The building cost approximately $750,000. Later, Ritter gave an outright grant of $250,000 to the school to help reduce the debt.

1960 -- The name of the school was changed to Notre Dame High School.

1976-77 -- Two-story addition costing $93,000 was constructed on the north side.

November 1992 -- The Notre Dame Long Range Planning Committee began looking at possibility of constructing a larger high school.

March 1993 -- The committee concluded there was a need to either expand the school or build a new one.

May 1994 -- Notre Dame school board voted to proceed with plans for a new school.

Jan. 26, 1995 -- An announcement was made that a new Catholic high school would be built on a 40-acre site near Interstate 55, but that no site had been chosen. The school would cost $4.5 million.

July 1995 -- Building plans for the school were temporarily halted until a site could be chosen.

Source: Southeast Missourian library