When St. Albert Schools built the facility in 1963 that now houses its junior and senior high students, the project cost $1.25 million.

"I wish this project cost that (little)," said St. Albert President Brian Osborne jokingly.

On Wednesday at 9 a.m., the St. Albert School District will announce a five-year capital campaign to build a new primary school on the existing Gleason Avenue campus.

The "Building for the 21st Century" campaign was originally a $5 million project, with $4 million going toward the cost of the building, and another $1 million for the school's St. Albert Educational Foundation endowment.

However, Osborne said the current construction costs would likely put the price tag for the building closer to $5 million, thus making the total cost of the capital campaign closer to $6 million.

The new primary school would be attached to the south wing of the junior/senior high building. The 40,000 square foot facility would house 13 classrooms and a gymnasium.

Without giving away much of the building details, Osborne called the design "fairly simple, as far as $5 million buildings go."

Osborne called the relocation of the primary school to the site of the junior/senior high facility "a natural progression, and an efficient use of the resources that we have."

The district's current primary building on Ninth Avenue will eventually be sold, Osborne said.

The capital campaign marks the first such project for the school district in more than 10 years. Not since the district finished construction of the junior/senior high building at 400 Gleason Ave. 43 years ago has a capital campaign project of this magnitude been undertaken.

According to the district, a new elementary school would:

- Help facilitate a projected 5 to 10 percent increase in the district's enrollment

- Increase available learning space for pre-K through third grade students by 35 percent

- Annual expenditures would decrease by $100,000 per year by having all the students on one campus

- Having all the students at one site is more attractive for incoming families, as 85 percent of St. Albert families reside near the Gleason campus.

No exact construction date has been set, Osborne said, because any school in the Des Moines Diocese (which includes St. Albert) must have the entire amount of the capital campaign pledged before a date can be set.

However, the district is hoping that construction of the new primary building could begin in the fall of 2006. Osborne said students could be in the new building as early as January 2008, though August of the same year is a more realistic scenario.

©Daily Nonpareil 2006