Rochester Catholic Schools still passing the plate for new Lourdes High

Not much new to report here, but the campaign to raise funds for the new Lourdes High School continues on, as does the work to sell the current site.

The Lourdes Foundation is trying to raise $15 million for the new building and so far about $11 million has been pledged. That's about a million more than reported in September, when the Lourdes Foundation held an alumni fundraiser in Minneapolis, the first such outside of Rochester.

In 2007, Lourdes announced it was moving from its site at 621 W. Center St. to 23.5 acres at the southwest corner of 19th Street Northwest and Valleyhigh Drive, next to the Rochester Athletic Club.

Ground hasn't started moving on the site yet, and due to the slow economy Lourdes has delayed its move until 2012, a year later than first planned. (That was announced months ago.)

The current Lourdes site has been valued at $10.4 million, according to county records. The question still lingers: will the site become the newest Mayo Clinic property? Nothing to report on that end, but stay tuned in the coming months for something to shake out from the site.