Costa Catholic Academy remains without a facility to start classes for the 2023-24 school year.
Costa, which is looking for a temporary location to conduct classes due to extensive damage to its building on Costa Drive, distributed an email late Friday notifying parents it would start the school year in the former Churchill Junior High School. Officials from the city of Galesburg, which owns Churchill, says the announcement was premature.
Interim City Manager Wayne Carl tells WGIL, “The City of Galesburg was recently made aware of a letter that Costa Catholic Academy distributed to parents indicating that they would be operating in the former Churchill building this fall, which is currently owned by the City of Galesburg. This understandably caused confusion, and city leadership contacted Costa representatives to provide clarity.”
Carl said the Peoria diocese office for Costa Catholic Academy contacted the City of Galesburg to request a tour of the Churchill building. City staff provided the tour, along with the information that if Costa decided to pursue locating in the building, details would need to be discussed, and an agreement approved by the City Council. Costa representatives indicated they would get back to the City regarding any further pursuit of the location. There were no further discussions between Costa representatives and City staff, and Costa did not submit an offer for utilizing space at Churchill.
“Upon being made aware of the Costa letter to parents, City staff contacted the Costa representatives that requested the tour to inquire about the letter, and Costa representatives indicated there had been a miscommunication on their part,” Carl said.
WGIL has previous reported a local developer has made a bid for $100,000 to purchase Churchill, minus the green space to the north of the school building.
The City Council will discuss the bid at tonight’s (Monday) City Council meeting.
According to Carl, if the City Council approves the agreement with the developer and the Galesburg School District waives its right of first refusal, the Churchill building would become the property of the developer, and any agreement regarding the use of the space by Costa could be determined between Costa and the developer.
“If the City Council does not approve the agreement with the developer, the City of Galesburg would continue to own the Churchill building, and as indicated during the initial Costa tour of the facility, would be open to discussing an agreement for the use of the building, contingent upon approval by City Council,” Carl said.
