In the kind of news most Milwaukee schools can only fantasize about making, St. Marcus Lutheran School, 2215 N. Palmer St., announced today that it has gotten a $460,000 grant from The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation for its $12 million campus expansion project designed by Korb Tredo Architects.
The school -- which garnered headlines recently when administrators took to the St. Marcus roof to try and win $500,000 from a Kohl's Cares schools competition -- has raised $7.6 million dollars for the expansion.
Phase one of the project is already underway and will add more than 46,000 square feet of classroom space. That's double the current space.
That leg of the project -- which broke ground on Oct. 31 -- adds a primary grades facility, space for a youth outreach program, art, music and meeting rooms, an indoor activity area and ministry offices.
St. Marcus currently has about 425 students and the new expansion will grow capacity to 600 students.
Details of the expansion can be seen at stmarcuspotential.org.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
