Despite early morning rain, over 3,000 people lined the streets in the Archer Heights neighborhood of Chicago to attend the Grand Opening and school orientation at the UNO Veterans Memorial School Campus on Friday, September 12, 2008.

Students and their families were welcomed to their school by a variety of dignitaries including Alderman Ed Burke, Senator Martin Sandoval, and Representative Dan Burke along with UNO CEO Juan Rangel. Alderman Solis of the 25th Ward and Senator Tony Munoz of the 1st District were also in attendance.

The schools in the Archer Heights neighborhood are among the most overcrowded in Chicago with a need of 11,000 seats in order to alleviate the issue. The building, located on 47th Street and Kildare, houses two grammar schools and UNO’s first high school. The three schools hold approximately 1,300 new seats and contain the first high school to open in the area since Curie Metropolitan which opened in 1973. The Grand Opening marked the completion of the first phase of this project that is to be done in the Spring of 2009.

Designed for LEED Gold Certification, which upon award will mark a new chapter for education and the environment, the building is uniquely designed with many features for environmental sustainability. One attribute is strategically located glass elements which provide natural lighting throughout the facility. Another example of a LEED design that was incorporated into the building is south facing glass walls that harvest warm air to help heat the building, and an extensive green roof which provides pleasant outdoor spaces for students and faculty.

The UNO Veterans Memorial Campus was a design/build project consisting of F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen and Den Construction Company as the joint venture contractor, and UrbanWorks Architects.