Bettendorf school on schedule

By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger

BETTENDORF — Construction of the new St. Joan of Arc Catholic School remains on target for fall 2025. The 77,990-square-foot building, located at the intersection of Hopewell Avenue and Criswell Street, will replace Lourdes Catholic School in downtown Bettendorf.

The $38.3 million project has nearly $18 million in verified pledges, said Claudia Meenan, development director for St. Joan of Arc Foundation. “We are so excited.”  The project’s estimated cost was $44.1 million but construction cost savings lowered it.

“We are moving forward but we cannot do this alone,” Meenan said. Pledges have come from parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. John Vianney parishes in Bettendorf, alumni and others who have stepped up. The foundation plans to reach out to the business community and to look into grants for additional funding.  A legacy society is in the beginning stages and an alumni association for Lourdes Memorial and Lourdes Catholic School is moving forward.

Meenan welcomes volunteers to assist with grant writing, contacting businesses and alumni or other projects. Organizers arranged for transportation of two metal beams from the building project to both Bettendorf parishes, the school and a picnic for everyone to sign. “It was fun to pull everyone together,” she said. The beams, now installed in the school building, will be visible from the commons space. Typically, such beams are not exposed. “This shows the community together,” Meenan said. “You look up at the beams and smile.”

St. Joan of Arc campaign chairs Nick Palczynski and Brad Boeye extended their gratitude to “all the donors who generously supported Phase One of the One Faith, One Family, One Future capital campaign. Because of their incredible commitment, we’ve secured pledges totaling $17.8 million. We are excited to announce St. Joan of Arc Foundation is entering Phase Two of our fundraising efforts, with an ambitious but achievable goal of raising an additional $10 million by August of 2025. These funds bring the vision of the new St. Joan of Arc School to life and are crucial in supporting our priests into retirement.”

They invited everyone to “participate in this meaningful journey. Together, we are building a future grounded in faith and community and confident that with your continued support, we will make this vision a reality.”

A progress report from project manager John Oxendine of Russell Construction said precast panels, masonry towers and structural steel installation are near completion and exterior framing is about to begin. On-site water, sanitary and storm systems are complete with electrical and plumbing work underway. “We are nearing completion of all under slab utilities and have started pouring interior concrete slabs. The widening of Hopewell for the new turn lane is nearing completion. This will help the flow of traffic on Hopewell Avenue.”

St. Joan of Arc Capital Campaign Project Managers Daryl Schloz and Mike Johnson said they are pleased with construction progress. “We are very confident St. Joan will be completely open next August.” They said the school would have “all the features one would expect in a state of the art Catholic school. We are forecasting we will come in under budget for the whole project due to supplier bids being a bit lower than anticipated and we are closely managing all expenditures.” As expected, some construction changes occur as the project progresses, “but we have kept those under control. We do not like surprises.”

To learn more about St. Joan of Arc Catholic School, to volunteer or to donate visit the St. Joan of Arc Foundation website (www.sjafdn.org).