YORKVILLE - The cost of a 37,000-square-foot school building expansion and renovation - $5.9 million. Yorkville Elementary School students' reactions to their new and improved facilities - priceless.

"It was just amazing to watch and listen to the kids as they walked in," Dave Callewaert, president of the Yorkville Elementary School Board said in describing students on their first day of classes for the new school year.

The celebration of the addition on the building's south side and renovations in older parts of the building, located at 18621 Washington Ave., will continue Thursday when an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony is held. The program, open to the public, begins at 4 p.m.

State and local government officials including state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, state Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, and former state Sen. Cathy Stepp, R-Yorkville, have been invited.

Also invited will be representatives of the architectural and construction firms that planned and built the project. Refreshments will be served and there will be a short program, Callewaert said.

The school's annual fall open house, at which parents meet with their children's teachers, will follow the public open house, Callewaert said.

The new addition provides space for a new gymnasium, library, lunchroom/commons and attendance office. The new facilities and a small added-on portion at the east end of the older part of the school also provided space for eight additional classrooms for the school, which serves approximately 419 students in kindergarten through eighth grade,

"It's not necessarily going to win any architectural awards, but it's efficient and functional," Callewaert said.

The building serves a vital role in the Yorkville community. In addition to education, the building and grounds provide space for youth athletic programs, community aerobics classes and even a place for baby showers.

"It's (the school) a gathering point," Callewaert said.

Talk about the need for improved facilities took place for at least three to four years before a successful referendum on the building project took place in April 2006. As planning progressed, the School Board worked hard to brief residents on plans for the expansion and renovation by providing briefings at numerous school events like open houses and concerts.

"So when we asked them to vote it was like it was their plan," Callewaert said. "The (school) boards here have been good at communicating with the public and the public support has followed."

Yorkville School District has not experienced an unsuccessful referendum since the school opened in the early 1960s.