D204 takes ownership of 84-acre school site

Indian Prairie School District 204 closed the deal Wednesday on the property its board voted to purchased Monday.

Officials confirmed Thursday that the district took title to the 84 acres along Eola Road in Naperville that it purchased from St. John AME Church for $19 million. The district will build the 3,000-seat Metea Valley High School on the property.

The district still intends to open Metea for freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2009. It had hoped to break ground by now, but it adjusted its plans by two weeks to allow the deal to close and designs to be reworked, and annexation agreements with the city of Aurora to be adjusted and approved.

Having already approved numerous contracts for construction services and materials for Metea contingent on the property's purchase, the district now plans to break ground May 7. It will begin by building the classroom space needed to open the school on time, then turn its attention to the completion of portions of the building that don't have to be done when the doors open - areas such as the auditorium, swimming pool and other amenities.