Special education center is being built in Burbank, Ill.

The AERO Special Education Cooperative in Burbank, Ill., has broken ground on a new facility.

The  facility will be built on property that had been home to Queen of Peace High School, a Catholic girls school that closed in 2017, reports Patch.com. 

Plans call for a 150,000-square-foot, two-story building. The campus will have two courtyards and will have wheelchair accessibility with two elevators.

The construction of the AERO Therapeutic Center will enable the cooperative to house its 400 students under one roof. The facility will have space to accommodate 200 more.

AERO provides special education services to 400 full-time students from 11 member public school districts in Chicago's southwest suburbs--Lyons, Stickney and Worth townships.

The cooperative bought the former high school property in 2018 for $3.25 million. 

The original plan was to repurpose the 55-year-old building, but school officials determined that bringing the building up to code was too costly.

Member districts have put up $25 million, and the state is matching that contribution.

Legat Architects designed the facility.