SOUTH LOOP — Early plans are taking shape for a new, larger school to replace South Loop Elementary School as it grapples with overcrowding.
The city is acquiring a plot of land near the intersection of 16th Street and Dearborn Street, clearing the way for a school — currently located at 1212 S. Plymouth Court — that would accommodate 1,200 students, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) said at a public meeting Thursday evening.
South Loop Elementary opened for 580 students in 1988 but last school year had 839, according to Chicago Public Schools.
About $10.7 million has been tapped from the River South TIF district to remediate and re-purpose the site, now occupied by a vacant post office building, the alderman added.
Between the school's high academic rating and the neighborhood's surging population, more families than ever are pushing to enroll their kids, according to Principal Tara Shelton.
"With our academic success and all [our] amenities that support working families, we've become a school of choice," Shelton said at the meeting. "Families began moving in rapidly, and before we knew it we were over-capacity."
With most classes now holding between 30 and 35 students each, Shelton said she and her colleagues were "really excited" about the potential of finding a new home.
Although on its way, the space is still a long way from being ready. Ground may not even break on the project for another 18 months, and construction would likely take just as long, officials said.
But even in the earliest stages of planning, leaders were able to offer a glimpse of how the school will likely look.
Planners envision a four-story building with 53 classrooms and 111,000 square feet of total space, according to Felicia Davis, executive director of the Public Building Commission, which will oversee the project.
The space will include three science labs, three special education classrooms, two music rooms, two art rooms and a "nurse's services suite," Davis said.
As an indication of what the school might look like, Davis pointed to the new annex at Lincoln Elementary School in Lincoln Park and recent renovations at Edgebrook and Sauganash Elementary Schools in Edison Park, which were also overseen by the commission.
It's unclear what would happen to the existing South Loop Elementary building, Dowell said.
The alderman said she will invite parents to join a "planning committee" to help shape the new school, and constituents in her ward can expect to see a survey asking for more ideas.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
