St. John's staff, students settle in new building

After 20 years of planning, incremental land purchases and volunteer work, the new St. John's Lutheran Elementary School in Lombard opened its doors this week to 235 students.

At 45,000 square feet, the two-story building at 220 S. Lincoln Street roughly doubles the available space of the former school across the street.

Principal John Aurich said opening the new school on time took hard work by construction crews and volunteer hours from congregation members and school parents,

"It was nip-and-tuck for a while," Aurich said.

The school received its temporary permit Aug. 31.

Along with dedicated art and music rooms and science labs, smaller details, such as more restrooms, make the new building more practical, said Sarah Richardt of Lombard, whose daughters Leah, 11, and Madelynn, 9, attend St. John's.

"In the old building, bathrooms were on the first floor," Richardt said. "Kids on the third floor would have to walk two flights of stairs to go to the bathroom."

The school project received financial backing from the village in 2006 when trustees voted to issue $6.2 million in industrial revenue bonds toward its construction.

"Prior to that, we applied for and received a loan from our bank. It's just backed by tax-deferred bonds, but the village has no liability at all," said Dave Freese, of the school's building committee. "West Suburban Bank is still our lender."

The financing of the new school wasn't the matter that raised questions as the project moved forward.

Originally, when plans for the new school were unveiled, some neighbors felt the proposed precast building would clash with the look of the community.

Architects went back to the drawing board, Aurich said.

"We ended up with a brick-and-mortar building, which was not our intent," Aurich said. "But the building committee wanted to be as good a neighbor as they could."

On Sunday, the community is invited to tour the school following a special 10 a.m. worship service and dedication ceremony.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Village President William Mueller are expected to attend Sunday's festivities.