Article courtesy of the Press-Citizen
August 11, 2010
NORTH LIBERTY -- Tuesday was a "milestone" for Christian schools
with the dedication of the new Heritage Christian School, said Mike
Annis, the school's administrator. "They've
never seen a facility like this," he told a crowd of about 200 people
at a dedication ceremony in the new school's gymnasium. "This is a
testament to (God's grace) and an immense amount of sacrifice."
The
crowd that included students, their parents and representatives from
the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce were on hand to dedicate and get
a firsthand look at Heritage Christian School's new building at 255
Hackberry St. in North Liberty. The school, formed in 1992 on Iowa
City's southeast side, had been based at Grace Community Church in
North Liberty since 1996.
The
$3.6 million, 240-student capacity building constructed on 22 acres on
North Liberty's east side has been in the works for the last 10 years,
Annis said. During the last four years, school leaders and parents had
worked on raising the money for the new facility, which will have 166
students enrolled this fall, and getting construction started. The work
included dealing with a delay caused by the 2008 floods that set the
project back by seven months, he said.
"It
really worked in our favor," he said, saying bids from contractors came
back lower when the school redid them in 2009. "(This school) is
everything we need it to be and then some. It's nice to have growth
room in the building.
The
extra space was a favorite part of the new building for many of those
who came by, including Andrew Fortmann, who attended Heritage Christian
from 1996 to 2005 and graduated from West High in 2009.
"It's better than our old school," he said. "Our old school was squashed. I wish I'd been able to go here."
Current students and teachers also raved about the building.
Eighth-grader
Timothy Kelly, 12, said he liked how the school is split between
elementary and middle school wings, while classmate Rachel Henkle, 13,
said she was just happy to be in the new space.
"It's amazing," she said. "We never thought it would actually happen. I couldn't imagine it this nice."
In the elementary wing, preschool teacher Julie Vahle met with parents and students who came through.
"It's just having our own space," she said. "I think we're really blessed to be in it. It's been nice to unpack."