St. Louis to sell campus property to St. Nicholas Center in three phases
Published 5:03 pm Friday, September 6, 2024
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
(Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
Four years after Hurricane Laura’s landfall, St. Louis High School Catholic High School officials have revealed the next plans in their recovery journey. At a public meeting Thursday, school leaders announced the sale of their Bank Street property, plans for the new campus on Corbina Road and the launch of a capital campaign.
Bank Street sale
The current St. Louis property at 1620 Bank St. will be sold to the St. Nicholas Center for Children in three phases.
The St. Nicholas Center for Children is a nonprofit therapy center that services those diagnosed with autism and developmental delays and disorders ages eight months to 21. The center operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, much like a school.
The St. Nicholas Center will purchase the Bank Street side of the property in the first phase. Following the finalization of this phase, the academic building on Bank Street and the Krajicek Gym will be demolished.
The demolition package is being developed, and will take place based on the school’s academic calendar to ensure student safety, said the Very Rev. Ruben Buller, rector of St. Louis.
The property with the current temporary campus and plot with the Krajicek Gym will be sold to the St. Nicholas Center in the second phase. This phase will not be initiated until St. Louis moves to the new campus.
The parking area on Seventh Street and the Landry Memorial Gym will be sold in the third phase.
In a news release, St. Louis administration said the St. Nicholas Center “has an interest in preserving the integrity of the Bank St. property and serving as a continued good neighbor for nearby homeowners and the community at large.”
This fulfills the Most Rev. Glen John Provost’s stipulation that the Bank Street property “be used for a good purpose, in keeping with the tradition of education of our Catholic community,” Buller said.
“Given the dark times that followed Hurricane Laura, this is a bright light for not just St. Louis, but also another Lake Charles entity,” he said. “With that, I think that we are fulfilling the call to maintain the presence of the wholesome development of the human person for years to come with the future site of the St. Nicholas Center. … with our new campus on Corbina Road”
He said the money raised from the sale will be put towards the new campus.
New campus
In March, St. Louis received a $32.2 million FEMA obligation for hurricane recovery. This funding will be used to construct the new campus.
The new location will be about five miles from the current campus. The school will span 42 acres located on the Northeast corner of E. McNeese Street and Corbina Road.
Hotard said the plans are expected to go to bid in the next one to two months. After bids are submitted, they expect to have another one to two months to negotiate with the low-bid contractor to decide what will be included in the project.
The project is split into a base bid with added alternates so they “can accept as much project as St. Louis is willing and can afford to build,” he said.
Bridget Evans with Champeaux Evans Hotard Architects explained that everything included in the bid is what is necessary to “make the campus whole again.” Prioritized builds for the new campus were based on what was lost in the hurricane, she said.
The base bid includes a main academic building with a commons area, art gallery, main academic classrooms and the St. Charles Chapel; a field house with a weight room and locker space for outdoor sports; two grass fields; a pavilion to be used for sports training and gathering; and the building that will house woodshop.
The total cost for everything in the base bid is about $32 million, the amount of the FEMA award.
The two alternates included in the bid are a science building with state-of-the-art labs and a gym building that will house two gyms and space for indoor athletics. With the bid alternates included, the total cost is $53 million.
The alternates will not be included in the bid if the additional $21 million is not available following negotiations.
“However far we can get is what we are going to start building,” Evans said. “In just a few short months, we’ll be awarding a bid to a contractor, and the amount that we award the bid for is going to be based on the monies we have available at that time.”
To raise funds, St. Louis is launching a capital campaign that will be introduced in the coming weeks.
