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West Chicago, Illinois: June 5, 2008 -
Dear Neighbor,
We’d like to keep you informed about an upcoming activity in your neighborhood. We will begin construction to improve and expand our athletic facility at Wheaton Academy in about a week. Between June of 2008 and April of 2009, a new field house will be attached to the west side of the existing gymnasium. From April to August of 2009, the existing gymnasium will be renovated. The architecture and design for both projects will be consistent with our facilities improvements (Educational Building and Fine Arts Center) of the past ten years. While our current gymnasium, the “Warrior Dome,” has some charm to it (it is known throughout the DuPage County athletic community as the “Wrigley Field of high school gymnasiums”), we are confident you will appreciate the aesthetics of the new facility.
We have been working closely with the City of West Chicago throughout the planning stages and we have been asked to direct all construction traffic to and from Wheaton Academy by way of Prince Crossing to our Hawthorne Lane entrance. Construction traffic should not be on Hawthorne Lane between the school and Route 59, and it should not be using the Prince Crossing entrance/exit. Our goal is to have safe and orderly traffic flow during construction. We appreciate your patience.
Although our construction plans include a new athletic facility, the landmarks of the original school will continue to anchor the character of our campus. Founded by abolitionists in 1853, the Academy’s original campus was in downtown Wheaton. Seven years later, the Academy added a college curriculum (Wheaton College). As the Academy and College programs grew, the Academy moved to its present West Chicago location in 1945. Upon arriving on the Prince Crossing campus and occupying a former Children’s Home, the Academy obtained its existing white chapel from an Army base in Indiana and its existing gymnasium, a former airplane hanger, from R.J. LeTourneau in Texas. Mr. LeTourneau, founder of LeTourneau University in Texas and known as the father of our modern day earth moving equipment, had a son who attended the Academy at that time and wanted to help provide an athletic facility. While both historic facilities have served us well for over 60 years, the recent addition of the Fine Arts Center and the new athletic complex offer much needed space and modern amenities. Our vision is to retain the historical character of the school while seizing opportunities to improve our facilities in order to be better equipped for the future students of Wheaton Academy.
Just as the City of West Chicago has experienced enormous growth over the past 15 years, so has the Academy. Enrollment has tripled to our intended school size of 600-700 students, and programs have continued to improve significantly. While we serve families from a 15 mile radius, we are particularly pleased that much of our recent enrollment growth has come from the local community. We are excited about our new community Artist Series and to be working with West Chicago’s Sister City organization to offer community movie nights. We thoroughly appreciate and enjoy being a part of local community activities like Blooming Festival and Chamber of Commerce initiatives. We count it a privilege to be a member of the rich and diverse West Chicago community. I encourage you to visit our website (www.wheatonacademy.org). We offer a variety of co-curricular summer camps for students of all ages.
Having lived in West Chicago and worked at the Academy for the past 27 years, I want to personally let you know we are committed to being a good neighbor to you. We look forward to living, working and growing together in the West Chicago community.
Jon Keith, Chief Operating Officer
jkeith@wheatonacademy.org
630-562-7502 |
