Quigley South - The Final Years

The Final Years

The 1980s would bring many changes to Quigley South. A decision to integrate new technologies with the traditional academic rigors of Quigley led to the establishment of a computer lab in 1983, one of the first Chicago-area high schools to do so, complete with Apple IIe's. In 1984, faculty member Father John Klein would replace Kicanas as the last rector of Quigley South as Kicanas moved on to become rector of the major seminary in Mundelein, and eventually seventh Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.

By December 1989, due to numerous reasons, the Archdiocese announced the controverisal decision to close Quigley South as of June 1990 and combine it with Quigley North into Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary at the original downtown site for the 1990 Fall term. For several weeks in early 1990, Quigley students and alumni from both institutions picketed the mansion of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and published a full-page ad in the Chicago Sun-Times. While some protesters later joined in supporting the combined Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, this site was also subsequently closed on June 22, 2007. Fr. Klein would become President of Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in 1990 until his death in 1999.

The Quigley South campus was purchased for the new location of St. Rita of Cascia High School (originally located several miles north at 63rd Street and Claremont Avenue). The physical location of Quigley South appears largely the same, with some exterior modifications such as Quigley South's former varsity soccer field now the location of St. Rita's football stadium (Quigley South never had a football team).