St. James addition work begins

The waiting isn't completely over for St. James School in Arlington Heights.

But shovels were in the ground Sunday for the new St. James School and Formation Center.

The addition to the school at 820 N. Arlington Heights Road, which carries a price tag of more than $11 million, is expected to take 18 months to finish.

Sunday's groundbreaking ceremony has been long awaited, said the Rev. William Zavaski, pastor of St. James Parish. "We have been waiting 10 years for this to happen. It's a dream come true."

The addition will house all grades. Right now, the middle school is on the west side, and the grade school is on the east.

Judy Pappas, St. James principal, said the addition is sorely needed, especially because of technology. "The current school building, where the grade school is housed, is 80 years old." She said the new school will have a state-of-the-art science lab for the upper grades and dedicated rooms for art, music and band.

One of the reasons for the wait was opposition from neighbors objecting to the scale of the addition. One neighbor, Evergreen Avenue resident Mark Gunther, said there was eventually some agreement on details, including a T-shaped barrier to the Evergreen entrance, as opposed to moving a cul-de-sac to the north, but never a real consensus on the grand plan.

"We're not happy with it at all. It changes the landscape of our neighborhood. It's a project that we don't think is necessary, based on their enrollment. It's excessive. It does not fit into our community, into our neighborhood," Gunther said.

"We understand (construction) is not an easy thing to live with," Zavaski said. "(But) we hired general contractors who are very well aware that our number one priority is to keep our neighbors happy."