With unanimous support from the city of Town & Country, Westminster Christian Academy is one step closer to building its new campus at Maryville Centre Drive and S. Outer Forty Drive.

The Town & Country Board of Aldermen unanimously approved the rezoning of the 70-acre site to “Major Educational Campus.” In addition, the city approved Westminster Christian Academy’s preliminary site plan and authorized the issuance of a building permit once the requirements of all applicable codes and ordinances have been met.

Westminster created an initial site plan and then gathered feedback from the city, neighborhood trustees and nearby businesses before submitting a modified plan to Town & Country. Developed by Zwick and Gandt, the final site plan includes a main school building, a fine arts center with a 600-seat theater and 200-seat black box theater, two gyms, an eight-lane swimming pool and a media production center. The new school will accommodate 1,200 students and incorporates a “school within a school” design, with neighborhoods of 200 students. Additional athletic facilities will include a football/soccer/track stadium; a performance soccer field; 10 tennis courts; and game and practice fields for softball, baseball, lacrosse and field hockey.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to relocate our campus to a location that will be a blessing to Westminster Christian Academy and the community for years to come,” said Jim Marsh, head of school. “We will strive to be an asset to the city of Town & Country as both a neighbor and resident.”

The new campus is part of a $50 million capital campaign to support the school’s vision and will be further funded by the sale of the existing campus. Marsh said the earliest Westminster would break ground in Town & Country is 2009, with the campus completed in time for the 2010-2011 school year.

Marsh explained, “We are committed to being responsible financial stewards and will not begin construction until we are confident in the sale of our current building and in meeting our capital campaign goal.”

CB Richard Ellis is the exclusive leasing agent for the Creve Coeur campus. For more details on the property, please contact Marc Cacciarelli or Tripp Hardin at 314-655-6000.

Westminster Christian Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school serving grades 7–12. Westminster provides an academically diverse student body with knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and the skills and wisdom to apply that knowledge, encouraging students to embrace a Biblical world view and integrate it into every area of life. For more information, visit www.wcastl.org.

After consulting with parents, donors, neighbors and city officials, Westminster Christian Academy has submitted a site plan for a new 70-acre campus at Maryville Centre Drive and S. Outer Forty Drive to Town & Country for approval. The new campus is part of a $50 million capital campaign to support the school’s vision.

In October, Central Presbyterian Church approved the sale of the 30-acre Centreat property to Westminster. Southwest of Interstate 64/Highway 40, the property is adjacent to 40 acres the school purchased in 2003 from the Special School District.

“Westminster has been involved in a planning process for the future use of our facilities since purchasing the original property, and the additional land allowed us to broaden our vision,” said Jim Marsh, head of school. “Over the past few months, we have met with the mayor, alderman, city attorney, neighbors and neighborhood trustees to review preliminary drawings and gather feedback on our plans. The response has been very positive.”

Plans for the Town & Country campus include a main school building, a fine arts center with a 600-seat theater and 200-seat black box theater, two gyms and a media production center. The new school will accommodate 1,200 students and incorporates a “school within a school” design with neighborhoods of 200 students. Athletic facilities will include an 80,000-square-foot athletic complex with 1.5 sheets of ice, an eight-lane swimming pool and a fitness center; a lighted football/soccer/track stadium; a performance soccer field; 10 tennis courts; and game and practice fields for softball, baseball, lacrosse and field hockey.

Architectural firm Zwick and Gandt developed the site plan, which has been presented in preliminary form to neighbors, parents and city officials in advance of the formal submission to Town & Country. “We have been working closely with our future neighbors to ensure that our plan and land use accomplish Westminster’s vision, while serving the surrounding community,” said Marsh. “We are very aware of how our footprint and building use affect our neighbors and have already made several adjustments to our original plans to address the concerns raised by nearby residents. We intend to maintain an open dialogue in order to continue being a good neighbor as we develop our new campus.”

Westminster is planning to move the entire school to Town & Country and is taking steps to sell its 30-acre campus at 10900 Ladue Road in Creve Coeur. Marsh said the earliest Westminster would break ground in Town & Country is 2009, with the campus completed in time for the 2010-2011 school year.

“A new campus is one part of our capital campaign, and we hope to have raised a significant portion of the gifts to manage the construction before breaking ground. Our intention is for the expansion to be funded by capital giving. WCA has always been a highly responsible steward of our donor’s gifts, so we do not plan to begin construction until we know we can fully realize the campaign goal,” explained Marsh.

Westminster has already reached achieved its first milestone in the capital campaign and is on track to meet its goal for the new campus and other initiatives.

Westminster Christian Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school serving grades 7–12. Westminster provides an academically diverse student body with knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and the skills and wisdom to apply that knowledge, encouraging students to embrace a Biblical world view and integrate it into every area of life. For more information, visit www.wcastl.org.

On April 6, Proposition O, the bond referendum on the ballot for Ladue School District, was passed by majority vote. Prop O allows Ladue Schools to purchase the current Westminster campus on Ladue Road. As a result of yesterday’s vote, Ladue Schools will be able to fulfill the contract to purchase the Westminster campus this year for $18 million.

Westminster’s director of development Zach Clark says this vote was a historic and pivotal point for Westminster. “The details of God’s faithfulness and provision through this process are too many to recount,” says Clark. “It was remarkable to see how He provided us with such a positive working relationship with Ladue Schools as they sought to communicate and share information to the residents.”

Westminster has owned and operated its current Ladue Road campus since 1982. Since that time, the school has seen its yearly enrollment grow from 265 students to nearly 900, graduating more than 2,000 students on the campus.

Westminster Christian Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school serving grades 7–12. Westminster provides an academically diverse student body with knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and the skills and wisdom to apply that knowledge, encouraging students to embrace a biblical worldview and integrate it into every area of life. For more information, visit www.wcastl.org.

Westminster Christian Academy began development of a new 70-acre campus in Town & Country, Mo. with a May 19 groundbreaking attended by school and community members.  The new campus will accommodate up to 1,200 students in grades 7-12 upon its completion in 2011.

The campus will provide 300,000 square feet of finished educational space plus extensive athletic facilities.  Highlights of the project include:

•    a fine arts center with a 600-seat theatre and 200-seat black box theatre,
•    a media production center,
•    a football, soccer and track stadium,
•    softball, baseball, lacrosse and field hockey practice and game fields,
•    two multi-sport gymnasiums and a fitness center,
•    an eight-lane swimming pool and
•    tennis courts

Chesterfield, Mo.-based Brinkmann Constructors is serving as design-build general contractor on the project.  Immediate plans call for demolition of two-thirds of the existing structure to pave the way for new construction.

“Brinkmann’s willingness to respond to our special needs and reputation for delivering a high quality product on time and within budget led us to select them,” said Jim Marsh, Westminster Christian Academy head of school.

Founded in 1976, Westminster Christian Academy’s first home was in rented classrooms at Missouri Baptist College.  This venue provided necessary classroom space and also offered access to well-equipped facilities rarely available to a small secondary school.  Enrollment has steadily increased throughout the school’s 35-year history, from 72 students during the 1976-77 school year to 899 students during the 2009-2010 school year.  By 1978, the school outgrew its original space and moved to a vacated elementary school at 12006 Manchester Road in Des Peres, Missouri — where the Des Peres Walgreens now stands.  Westminster outgrew its 27,000-square-foot school on Manchester and moved to the school’s current location on Ladue Road with 265 students in 1982.

The school continued to witness increased demand for Christian education and by 1995, the school began a renovation and expansion to accommodate an enrollment topping 530 students.  Since then, the school has creatively maximized its use of space in order to accommodate the 899 students it enrolls today.

To accommodate a still-growing student body, Westminster will now relocate from its current school at 10900 Ladue Road to its new facility, and its current 30-acre, 165,000-square-foot campus will be acquired by the Ladue School District.  Westminster purchased the 40-acre former West County Vocational Technical School in 2003 to accommodate future school growth.  In October 2007, an anonymous donor gifted to the school 30 acres of undeveloped adjacent property, previously owned by Central Presbyterian Church.

Since its first graduating class of a single student in 1977, Westminster has graduated more than 2,000 young men and women. Today, the school continues to attract Christian families from nearly every part of the St. Louis area. The school’s faculty, parents and administrators value the school’s distinctly Christian approach to education and seek to carry the tradition forward for many generations to come.

Westminster Christian Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school serving 899 students in grades 7–12. Westminster provides an academically diverse student body with knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and the skills and wisdom to apply that knowledge, encouraging students to embrace a biblical worldview and integrate it into every area of life.  For more information, visit www.wcastl.org.

Founded in 1984, Brinkmann Constructors provides design/build and fast-track construction for schools, healthcare providers, developers, retailers, corporations, financial institutions, manufacturers, restaurants, country clubs and not-for-profit organizations.  It has completed more than 750 projects in 17 states. Engineering News-Record ranks the firm among the nation’s Top 100 design/build firms.  Engineering News-Record ranks the firm among the nation’s Top 100 design/build firms.