Loyola Expansion Approved By Wilmette Trustees

WILMETTE, IL — The first phase of Loyola Academy's master plan to expand its Wilmette campus was approved after a six-hour meeting of village trustees Wednesday. The board authorized an increase to the school's enrollment cap from 2,000 to 2,125, a plan for more parking, a new swimming pool and new traffic patterns, Pioneer Press reported.

For the first two phases of its "Loyola Forward 2025" campus expansion plan, the school agreed to put off plans to pave two of its small green fields and put up parking lots. Pioneer Press reported a fight with neighbors about the parking lot led to the discovery of years of violations of Loyola's enrollment cap.

While the school won't be asked to reduce the number of students in the middle of the school year, it could be subject to fines if it fails to bring enrollment below the new cap of 2,125 after a year, according to the paper. Residents were divided during public comment. One said it was rewarding the school for its bad behavior by violating past enrollment caps. Another said improvements to traffic patterns will help the neighborhood.

• Read more from Pioneer Press
• Watch video of the meeting from the Village of Wilmette

_{Top photo: Loyola Academy (Google Street View)}