Post by title1parent on Mar 19, 2008 6:01:54 GMT -5
Metea plan moves to council
March 19, 2008
By Dan Campana dcampana@scn1.com
AURORA -- The City Council appears poised to give the OK next week for plans to build the area's newest high school.
Aside from brief mention of parking capacity at the proposed Metea Valley High School, aldermen on Tuesday had very little to say about the project that has generated much controversy and a lawsuit within the Indian Prairie School District.
The school and a new location for St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church are to share about 122 acres on Eola Road, south of Diehl, with a main entrance for both planned at Molitor Road.
A public hearing is slated for the City Council's March 25 meeting, where aldermen are expected to vote to annex the land into the city, as well as approve preliminary plan design.
District officials, who said the school board is expected to vote on similar items Monday, provided a glimpse at Metea's campus layout and the school's brick and glass main entrance. As planned, there would be 950 student parking spaces near a north entrance, attorney Rick Petesch said, noting the district and church are in talks about overflow parking on school days.
Alderman Lynda Elmore said the city would act to restrict parking in the Cambridge Chase subdivision if students began to park there.
The school, occupying 86.5 acres, will have a capacity of 3,000 students, with only freshmen and sophomores when the doors open, though it is not expected to reach capacity in the next five years, officials said.
Though the district targets an April 1 to break ground, an ongoing lawsuit in DuPage County seeks to prevent construction on Eola because of environmental concerns from a nearby electric plant and underground gas pipes. The lawsuit contends the district previously ruled the Eola site unsuitable for a school and must purchase property known as Brach-Brodie, as approved by a referendum.
Metea Valley's campus stretches roughly from the Illinois Prairie Path to Molitor and St. John, Aurora's oldest African-American church, encompasses the remaining land south up to the subdivision. The 65,000-square-foot church would be built in the first phase, with a fitness center and meeting center following at a later time.
March 19, 2008
By Dan Campana dcampana@scn1.com
AURORA -- The City Council appears poised to give the OK next week for plans to build the area's newest high school.
Aside from brief mention of parking capacity at the proposed Metea Valley High School, aldermen on Tuesday had very little to say about the project that has generated much controversy and a lawsuit within the Indian Prairie School District.
The school and a new location for St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church are to share about 122 acres on Eola Road, south of Diehl, with a main entrance for both planned at Molitor Road.
A public hearing is slated for the City Council's March 25 meeting, where aldermen are expected to vote to annex the land into the city, as well as approve preliminary plan design.
District officials, who said the school board is expected to vote on similar items Monday, provided a glimpse at Metea's campus layout and the school's brick and glass main entrance. As planned, there would be 950 student parking spaces near a north entrance, attorney Rick Petesch said, noting the district and church are in talks about overflow parking on school days.
Alderman Lynda Elmore said the city would act to restrict parking in the Cambridge Chase subdivision if students began to park there.
The school, occupying 86.5 acres, will have a capacity of 3,000 students, with only freshmen and sophomores when the doors open, though it is not expected to reach capacity in the next five years, officials said.
Though the district targets an April 1 to break ground, an ongoing lawsuit in DuPage County seeks to prevent construction on Eola because of environmental concerns from a nearby electric plant and underground gas pipes. The lawsuit contends the district previously ruled the Eola site unsuitable for a school and must purchase property known as Brach-Brodie, as approved by a referendum.
Metea Valley's campus stretches roughly from the Illinois Prairie Path to Molitor and St. John, Aurora's oldest African-American church, encompasses the remaining land south up to the subdivision. The 65,000-square-foot church would be built in the first phase, with a fitness center and meeting center following at a later time.