Thursday, July 22, 1999
School to buy land for new building site
2-year goal for construction
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FAIRFIELD — Cincinnati Christian Schools have reached an agreement with J-II Homes to buy 20 acres for a new school on the west side of Dixie Highway between Mack and Seward roads.
The purchase agreement won't be signed until next month after J-II Homes acquires a 70-acre tract, said parent Terry Diefenbacher, who is on the school's development committee. The schools won't schedule a closing on the property until sometime next year, Mr. Diefenbacher said.
“Our goal is to break ground in two years,” he said.
The elementary and high school programs that make up the school now rent space at Tri-County Assembly of God on Dixie Highway at the Fair field/Springdale border. During the past year, the committee has been looking at sites for a school.
The committee initially looked at 15-20 sites within a five-mile radius of the school's current location before concentrating efforts on eight sites, Mr. Diefenbacher said.
Still under discussion by the development committee is what kind of school should be built on the new site, said Sheri Wilkerson, the schools' development coordinator.
The schools are halfway through a four-year lease with the church. Discussions are beginning on extending the lease and possibly entering a long-term lease for elementary space, with high schoolers moving to a new building on the property being bought, Mr. Diefenbacher said.
Enrollment will be 439 students when school resumes, up from 377 for the 1998-99 school year.
To accommodate the additional students, the school will place a two-classroom modular unit on the church property this year and anticipates doing the same next year, Mrs. Wilkerson said.
“How big do we want to grow and still have the same family-friendly atmosphere?” Mrs. Wilkerson said. “We don't know yet. We're looking at growing to 800 or 900. But no decisions have been made yet.”
The school last month kicked off a two-year, $1.5 million fund-raising program to pay for the land, development costs and architectural fees. About one-third has been raised, Mr. Diefenbacher said.
Once the school reaches that goal and has decided what kind of school it will build, a second campaign to raise money to pay construction costs will begin.
"Our goal is to buy the land and pay off a loan in two years,” Mrs. Wilkerson said.
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