By Mike Anthony
Executive Editor
news1@callnewspapers.com

Lindbergh Schools will host an open house next week during which the public can tour the district’s new Central Office building at 9350 Sappington Road.
The open house for the new Central Office building, which was constructed on the 2.2-acre site of the former Johnny’s Market, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 10.
The two-story, 24,000-square-foot building opened in January and is home to roughly 50 employees who serve staff, students and families districtwide.
Departments include the superintendent’s office, curriculum and instruction, human resources, finance, facilities and technology, among others.
The district’s Central Office previously was housed at Lindbergh High School, and occupied roughly 20,000 square feet there. The move will create space for up to 16 classrooms and 50 parking spaces at Lindbergh High School, and will help the district deal with surging enrollment.
The district’s projected enrollment increase through 2021 is 901 additional students, with many of those new students headed toward the high school.
District officials originally had estimated moving the Central Office would create space for about 10 to 12 classrooms at the high school, so having 16 new classrooms is a bonus, according to Superintendent Jim Simpson.
“That’s going to help the high school address their tidal wave of growth. It gives them a few years to really figure out where to go in terms of renewal of LHS, and so that’s something that we’re very happy about,” he told the Call. “The high school is going to grow exponentially. There’s a tidal wave of students because all of our growth has been in early elementary.”
The district’s newest elementary school, Dressel, was filled to its 650-student capacity the first day it opened in August.
“Dressel’s an entire elementary headed to the high school that did not even exist (before),” the superintendent said. “The high school’s really going to ramp up enrollment and those 16 classrooms will be a godsend to them.”
The goal is to have the new classrooms at the high school completed by August.
The Board of Education voted Jan. 9 to award a contract not to exceed $490,926 to Kalicak Construction for the renovation work at the high school.
Kalicak submitted the lowest of three bids for the project.
The groundwork for the new Central Office building was laid in January 2016 when district officials closed on the roughly $1.66 million purchase of the former Johnny’s Market site.
The Board of Education voted in September 2016 to approve the low bid of $6,561,000 submitted by Wachter Inc. for construction of the building.
The building features an energy-efficient design, including LED lighting, a light-reflecting roof surface to reduce cooling costs and an energy-efficient mechanical system.
The Sappington-Concord Historical Society donated a plaque that hangs in the building’s main lobby and commemorates the location’s long history.
The plaque, “Honoring a Crossroads of Community and Commerce,” outlines the story of Johnny’s Market and the businesses that preceded it at the intersection of Gravois, Sappington and Denny roads.
Simpson believes the new Central Office building will be “iconic” for many decades to come.
“It already is an incredible asset to us,” he said.