A Lexus car dealer offered to buy Escondido Adventist Academy’s current property at 1233 West 9th Street if it were willing to relocate and rebuild. Lexus wanted to occupy the school site in January 2007. The parties agreed on a $9.35 million sale price in early 2005.

Then, unforeseen problems and changed circumstances delayed the project. Construction material costs, for example, skyrocketed 15 to 20 percent after Hurricane Katrina.

The best place to rebuild the school proved to be a portion of 14.55 acres purchased by the Escondido church for a new worship and ministry complex. The site on Deodar Road lies just west of Interstate 15. The congregation celebrated paying off the land in 1998 for a total of $899,000, but it lacked funds to begin a new church.

Today, the two projects are related but separate. The school, which enrolls 240 students (K-12), needs financial support from its 14 constituent churches. The 650-member Escondido English-speaking congregation, which sold its sanctuary at 331 West 4th Street last year and now worships in the academy gymnasium, needs a home.

The overall cost of the two projects is estimated at $23 million. Of this, $7.5 million is for the church, $8.5 million for the school, and $7 million is for on-site preparation such as grading, parking lots, and landscaping, and off-site costs such as permits, utility hook-ups, and street improvements.

A financial plan for sharing costs appropriately is still being developed. “We think we can shave off some expenses,” said Wayne Herling, chairman of the building committee. “But we also have to cover unexpected costs.”

“It’s an exciting time and a stressful time,” added Kris Fuentes, academy principal. “We very much want to be in our new school by September.”

In January, more than 30 pieces of heavy equipment were on site. “We are pushing hard,” said Jon Ciccarelli, Escondido senior pastor. “Sunday construction work is prohibited, but, thank God, the city made a temporary exception. We’re trying to make up lost time.”