However, the survey also showed a negative
perception of the athletic facilities.
“150
years (this April) of Catholic secondary
education in Peoria and we have never had a
football stadium to call our own,” Merdian said.
More than half of Notre Dame’s sports teams
currently practice or play off campus, including
football, tennis, swimming and softball, which
have no on-campus facility of any kind. Of the
sports that do play on campus, the facilities are
not sufficient for many of the underclass games.
The decision to build the athletic complex first
was primarily based on funding. Not only will
the athletic complex be less costly, the school
currently spends $100,000 each year renting
sports facilities off campus for its teams. Merd-
ian said the goal is to build excitement over the
athletic complex and create momentum toward
the school campaign.
With no concrete timetable set for building the
school, Merdian said after the two-year athletic
phase is completed the fundraising campaign
to construct the school will begin. The speed by
which it happens, he said, will depend on many
variables, including the amount of funds raised
and the health of the local economy.
While the current health of the Peoria Catholic
community is positive, there is greater excite-
ment in the air about beginning a new chapter
in the Peoria Catholic school history.
Peorian Tom Ferlmann, along with five sib-
lings, graduated from Spalding in the 1970s, as
did his father in 1950. He had just begun practic-
ing dentistry in the late 1980s when the merger
took place.
“
We had a big family go through Spalding,”
said Ferlmann, who has two sons that currently
attend Peoria Notre Dame. “There was a lot of
history and tradition that seemed lost at that
time. But as a Peorian, it will be very exciting to
have a premier high school, a calling card to the
Catholic community.”
Merdian agreed. “Here we are in one, new
location from two previous locations,” he said.
“
When we unite all of these athletic fields to-
gether it will create a sense that we are all one…
one unique, individual new school,” he said.
THIS SITE PLAN SHOWS WHERE PEORIA
NOTRE DAME’S ATHLETIC COMPLEX
WILL BE LOCATED IN RELATION TO
THE NEW BUILDING THAT WILL BE
CONSTRUCTED AT ALLEN ROAD AND
WILLOW KNOLLS ROAD.
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THEPEORIAN.COM
