News
From Cornfields to Classrooms
- Details
- Published on Monday, 03 September 2012 12:55
- Written by Ken Brooke
Peoria Notre Dame's future is now
Any lingering bitterness over the merging of two Peoria Catholic high schools 25 years ago is about to end as construction has begun on the new $40 million Peoria Notre Dame High School at the corner of Allen Road and Willow Knolls Drive in Peoria.
The Academy of Our Lady/Spalding High existed in downtown Peoria for 113 years until a decision was made to close the campus and move its students to rival Bergan Catholic High School in 1987. To ease tensions, the name was changed to Peoria Notre Dame. While younger generations were never exposed to the emotional merging of the two previous schools, the entire Peoria Catholic community is looking forward to a place they can all truly call their own.
"There has always been a healthy rivalry between Catholic schools and it is really something beautiful, but in reality, we are all one," said Msgr. Mark J. Merdian, newly appointed president of Notre Dame High School.
Merdian graduated from Spalding Academy in 1985 and recalled the emotions a few years later. "Some people could not get beyond (the merger), which is unfortunate, because what does it say to the unity of the church, the unity of Catholics when people become so angry and vociferous about merging two schools that are both Catholic?"
The first phase is a two-year project to construct athletic facilities at the site. Grading for the roadways and thoroughfare is already taking place. Construction will soon begin on a new football and soccer field, as well as a track, tennis courts and diamonds for baseball and softball teams. Merdian said he anticipates the softball and baseball fields to be ready by the spring of 2013, while football and soccer fields ready for the fall of 2014.
The project has not come without bumps in the road. The board has had to recalculate the cost to build the athletic complex from an estimated $6.4 million this spring to a more accurate $10.5 million currently. Despite the increase, Merdian said the project is moving forward and that he hopes the athletic complex provides momentum for the estimated $29 million to $35 million school building, which will follow.
"The athletic facilities are lacking," Merdian said. "Obviously, athletics are not what we are about, but athletics enhance a person's maturation and their development as a person – physically as well as spiritually. That's why the board was very much in favor of moving forward." A past study by Bradley University students revealed the Peoria Catholic community was pleased with the current education at Notre Dame.
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. Merdian 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 excitement in the air about beginning a new chapter in the Peoria Catholic school history.
Peorian Tom Ferlmann, along with five siblings, graduated from Spalding in the 1970s, as did his father in 1950. He had just begun practicing 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 together it will create a sense that we are all one...one unique, individual new school," he said.
