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Contact:
Rachel Doyle
Phone: 314.977.2538
doylerl@slu.edu

February 2, 2005

ST. LOUIS -- For more than two years, Saint Louis University’s Norman J. Stupp Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab has been creating digital blueprints for police and school officials showing every room inside many St. Louis-area school buildings.

Now, the GIS mapping project is expanding into Illinois. On Thursday, Feb. 3, members of SLU’s department of public policy will begin mapping Governor French Academy in Belleville, Ill.

Placed on CDs, the maps will allow first responders to do a virtual walk-through of the school before setting foot in the building during an emergency situation. The Crisis Intervention Response Application or C.I.R.A program has already mapped 15 Missouri schools, including Soldan and Beaumont High Schools in St. Louis. Governor French Academy is the first Illinois school to participate in the project.

Gary Higgs, Stupp GIS Lab director, says the project’s goal is to make sure that in the event of a crisis at a local school, emergency personnel are able to quickly review blueprints and images of the building.

“This project allows us to make these schools safer,” said Higgs. “When this job is completed, first responders will have the extra information they need that could make the difference in an emergency-rescue situation.”

Members the GIS team will take 360-degree photographs of every room in Governor French Academy. The images are then combined with the building’s blueprints, aerial photos and satellite images and then assembled on CDs to be delivered to local police.

“From the moment we heard about this project at Saint Louis University it was clear it would be a great partnership,” said Paul Seibert, director of development at Governor French Academy. “We saw this as something we would like to do as we revisit our safety plans.”

Located in SLU’s College of Public Service, the Norman J. Stupp GIS Lab is a state-of-the-art computer-imaging center for analyzing, processing and displaying spatial data. The school-mapping project was created after the Columbine High School tragedy in an effort to help authorities respond quickly to emergencies inside the school.

Media are welcome to attend Thursday’s walk-through. The group may begin photographing the school Thursday, but it will depend on time. For more information, please call Rachel Doyle at (314) 977-2538.