SCHOOL BUILDING'S FUTURE UNCERTAIN

What does the future hold for Notre Dame's 40-year-old high-school building?

That is the question a school committee hopes to answer as plans proceed for construction of a new Notre Dame high school on a yet-to-be-chosen site.

"Obviously, we are going to talk to the neighbor there, St. Vincent Parish, and see if there is some need," committee chairman David Glastetter said of the building at 1912 Ritter.

Possible options include selling or leasing the property. But Glastetter said the committee is just getting started and no plans have been finalized.

Glastetter said there is no rush to decide the future of the building. It will be at least two years before a new high school is built, he pointed out.

The high school, which opened in September 1954, is across the street from St. Vincent de Paul Church and St. Vincent's Elementary School.

The church plans to expand but has no plans to use the high-school building, said the Rev. Richard Lause, pastor of St. Vincent.

The high-school building is owned by the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese.

"Even if we did have Notre Dame High School, it sure wouldn't help with the seating capacity at the church," he said. "We are going to be putting in about 100 more seats." The church currently accommodates about 550 people.

Plans also include an addition at the rear of the church for meeting rooms. The addition will be a basement and first floor.

The improvements will cost less than $600,000, Lause said.

St. Vincent's Elementary School expanded three years ago and isn't looking to move across the street.

Cape Girardeau public schools would be interested in the additional space the building offers. "It would be something we would not rule out," said Dr. Neyland Clark, superintendent of schools.

But Clark said no one at Notre Dame or St. Vincent de Paul Parish has approached him about the building.

"I doubt very seriously they will sell any piece of property adjacent to the church," Clark said. "I think they will come up with alternative uses for that facility."

Tom Reinagel, who co-chairs the effort to build a new Notre Dame high school, said the existing building is structurally sound but has little room to expand.

The high school, elementary school and church sit on about a 15-acre tract. School officials have rejected the idea of expanding at the site. Expansion and renovation of the high-school building would cost more than $2 million, they said.

It would also cut into available parking and the high school's athletic fields.

Glastetter said his committee ultimately will make its recommendations to the Notre Dame school board. "We are open to all suggestions and possibilities," he said.