Their tiny, outmoded elementary school building five miles east of Lawrence has been reduced to a memory for students and teachers at Bishop Seabury Academy.

A $1.6 million transformation of the former Alvamar Racquet and Swim Club, 4120 Clinton Parkway, resulted in creation of a lush educational atmosphere for the 115 junior high and high school students attending the private Episcopal school.

“No longer will we be cheek to jowl,” said Chris Carter, the school’s headmaster.

Classes started in August at the new building, which is a far cry from the old site at 1411 E. 1850 Road. Seabury had been in the old Kaw Valley School since opening in 1997.

“We now have adequate space, adequate air conditioning,” said junior Elise Stella, a Bishop Seabury student for five years. “Space is mainly the issue. At our old school, many teachers had to share rooms. Many times we had to use the gym and library for classrooms.”

Staff and students say the facility upgrade for Bishop Seabury is something of a miracle, both in terms of what was left behind at the old building and what resulted from gutting the Alvamar club.

“It’s an astonishing transition, especially if you saw it as a tennis club,” Carter said.

A dream come true

Half of Alvamar’s four indoor tennis courts were converted into classrooms. There are appropriately designed laboratory spaces for science and computer classes, while there were none at the old site.

The other half of the courts became a regulation gymnasium. The gym at Seabury’s former location — mice frequented that area — was undersized.

The performing arts stage is double the size of the one Seabury students were used to occupying. A commons area for students was honed out of the club’s pro shop.

A smaller building nearby will house fine arts classes.

And there’s more parking. Water from the fountains is drinkable. Rest rooms work properly.

Elisabeth Lee, one of the founding teachers at Bishop Seabury, said the new building was a dream come true.

“It’s very gratifying and profoundly moving,” said Lee, who teaches literature.

Sophomore Tavis Sartin, who is in his third year at Bishop Seabury, said the new digs were terrific.

He does miss the less-than-perfect-is-fine feel that the former Kaw Valley School offered students at Seabury.

“The old building had sort of a homey touch,” Sartin said. “You move to this building, you’ve moved from a house to a hospital.”

The sense of the new, sanitized school building won’t produce a surge in academic performance of students, he said. Students and faculty did well under tough circumstances in the past, he said.

“I don’t think that’s changed. We always had exceptional teachers,” Sartin said.

French teacher Mary Johnson said she would miss one aspect of the old school building — convening classes outside.

That was possible because Bishop Seabury had set up shop in the old Kaw Valley School, which is surrounded by grassland and crop fields.

“I love the country setting,” she said.

A recruiting boost

The original plan was to build a tier of second-floor classrooms at the new school, but that didn’t fit into the budget. The 8.1-acre site includes land for future expansion.

The decision to acquire the club for use as a school was made in December 2001, when the school’s trustees began a campaign to raise $2.85 million. In August 2002, the board closed on the deal to buy the club from businessman Bob Billings, who died this year.

The academy is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. It costs $10,800 a year to educate a Bishop Seabury student, and tuition covers about 75 percent of that amount.

The bottom line of Seabury’s new building could be improvement in recruiting students. Locating inside Lawrence’s city limits in a nicer building should help the cause.

“Many times we didn’t get students because they didn’t like the facilities,” Stella said. “They were more interested in drama and athletics. You don’t want to go to a school where your gym doesn’t have an adequate size.”