Gonzaga Preparatory School is seeking to have the Washington state Housing Finance Commission issue $10 million in bonds to remodel part of the private Spokane high school and to refinance debt from past improvements.


The commission plans to decide on Aug. 28 whether to approve the bond issue.


Gonzaga Prep is a Catholic high school that had an enrollment last year of about 950 students. Its located at 1224 E. Euclid on Spokanes North Side.


Al Falkner, the schools principal, says that if the commission approves the bond issue, the school will use about $3.8 million of the proceeds to remodel a portion of the school. That remodel would include renovation of the high schools north wing of classrooms and school counselor areas, installing fire sprinklers, and renovating some sports fields south of the school to include tennis courts in addition to softball and soccer fields.


The school hasnt yet set a construction timeline, but Falkner says work likely would start within the next two years.


In the future, Gonzaga Prep also envisions construction of a chapel on campus, Falkner says. A chapel likely would cost between $1 million and $2 million to construct, but wouldnt be financed with bond money, he says.


The remaining $6.2 million from the proposed bond sale would go to refinance debt from an expansion and remodeling project completed in spring 2000, Falkner says. That project involved construction of a student center and a fine arts building and remodeling of most of the main school building.