SPRINGFIELD — Catholic Central Schools has raised $3.27 million as part of a campaign to fund a construction project to update buildings and consolidate to two campuses, said President Kenith Britt.

The goal for the project is to raise $5 million by June — $1 million for renovations at the current Catholic Central Junior/Senior High School on East High Street and $4 million for an addition to that building.

“Catholic Central’s a good school,” Britt said. “There’s no doubt about it. But we can get better, and this will make us better.”

Catholic Central hopes to complete construction on the three-story addition in July 2015.

Britt said the school system has adopted an “aggressive” timeline for the project, with fundraising and securing a bridge loan completed this summer and beginning renovations in July 2013.

Consolidating the campuses would allow the students and teachers to collaborate more and unify the Catholic Central community, Britt said.

If the fundraising is successful and the High Street campus expands, the school would close one of its two elementary campuses in the city. It’s undecided if the Lagonda or Limestone campus would be the one to close.

The campus that remains open would house pre-kindergarten through second grade. The East High Street campus would have third through 12th grade, with high school students attending classes in the new addition.

Catholic Central is a valuable aspect of the neighborhood, but residents there have some concerns, said Harvey Banks, president of the East High Street Neighborhood Association.

“We’re delighted that they’re trying to use the facility and they’re choosing East High Street, but they have to consider everything, and they only have a single entrance and egress,” he said.

Springfield City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said the city would be involved with planning if the project moves forward, but he didn’t believe traffic would be an issue.

“Any time we can keep an organization like that inside the city, I think it’s positive for the entire region,” Bodenmiller said.

He said he’s always been pleased with Catholic Central’s presence, in particular on the East High Street neighborhood.

“They’re a positive influence,” Bodenmiller said.

If the campaign raises enough money, the school also would consider a renovation to the street side of the 1957 building that would create a 1,000-seat chapel and elementary-friendly entrance instead of the large set of stairs currently leading to the school.

“This sends a strong statement to our community of what we’re about,” said Britt. “Our purpose is to be the educational arm of the church.”

Other renovations are planned, including the addition of a junior high gym that could be used for multiple purposes, and additional parking.

From June to December of 2011, 67 private donors contributed $3.1 million to the effort, said Britt. That includes a $500,000 challenge gift from the McCurdy family to match donations between $1,250 to $25,000 up to that amount.

“I think people understand the vision, they understand why we’re trying to do this,” he said. “They understand that this is going to set up for success for a long time.”

Since the campaign went public three weeks ago, $200,000 has been donated, bringing the total number of donors to 85, said Britt.

Tracy Engel, a Catholic Central graduate whose three children now attend there, said she believed people who had been positively impacted by the school and its community were moved to support it.

“I think this has been a long time coming, and I think we just needed the right people to be able to take this plan forward,” she said. “We’re in need of a facility that can fill the needs of our kids.”

The Catholic Central Schools community has discussed facilities concerns for the last 10 years, Britt said.

“Several years ago there were discussions about some potential options for the school, including the South High building and ... building in the country on some land that the archdiocese owns, but obviously neither of those options were chosen for the final direction,” said Bridget Pedraza, director of communications.

Currently, the school has three campuses. Seventh through 12th grades are on the East High Street campus, fourth through sixth grades are on North Limestone Street and kindergarten through second grades are at the Lagonda campus.

Catholic Central’s long-term plans might provide a solution to neighborhood traffic concerns, according to Britt. While the immediate plan calls for an addition and consolidation to two campuses, the school would like to one day share one campus.

“Our next chapter, or what lies ahead, is a single campus,” he said.

In the future, the school may consider creating a second entrance and exit off East Main Street, he said.

Enrollment projections for Catholic Central predict stable enrollment around 850 students, but officials have considered plans to accommodate declines or increases, said Britt.

The move would be the latest in the last 10 years to restructure the school to secure the future of Catholic education in Clark County. Last year, the elementary campuses were restructured to grade level buildings and in 2009, the school moved to a principal-president model of governance when it hired Britt.

In 2008, Catholic Central consolidated its Urbana campus into Springfield because of declining enrollment.

Anyone interested in more information about the campaign can contact Britt at (937) 328-7427, ext. 120.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0373.