PITTSBURGH — The leader of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh put his support behind an effort to relocate North Catholic High School to the southwestern Butler County area.

Bishop David Zubik called for the building of a new North Catholic High School to move "full speed ahead."

The new building is projected to be completed by 2011.

"This project is much more than a relocation of North Catholic High School. You are seeking to build a new Catholic high school in the North Hills. What will be relocated is the identity and traditions that North Catholic High School has been known for since 1939," a diocesan news release said Zubik told more than 100 North Catholic alumni and friends at a reception held at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh Thursday night.

Diocese of Pittsburgh Superintendent Robert Paserba said the project is on the same course it has been since the "Forever True" capital campaign went public in October. The campaign is to raise construction money for the new school.

The projected cost of the new high school is between $20 million and $25 million.

The current capital campaign is hoping to raise $10 million in cash to then qualify for a $21-million bond issue.

Paserba, who lives in Butler and is the former superintendent of Butler School District, said the project's timetable is still on track for a 2011 completion.

North Catholic, which has been on Troy Hill in Pittsburgh since 1939, has had years of decreasing enrollment.

The school's enrollment peaked at about 1,200 in the 1960s. This year, the school has around 300 students, down from 481 in 2000.

With the new Cranberry-area based school, the projected enrollment is 700 to 800 students upon opening and as many as 1,200 students after several years.

Diocese officials said a growing proportion of its student population has come from the Seneca Valley School District.

"This is our best opportunity to bring Catholic secondary education to the growing Catholic population in Northern Allegheny and Southern Butler counties, one of the largest growing communities in the country," Zubik said in the news release.

Paserba said the most immediate goal is to finalize the building site in the Cranberry Township area of Route 228. The Diocese of Pittsburgh and North Catholic's board of directors is looking at several potential sites all within proximity of each other.

The school has an offer by an unidentified donor for 20 acres off Route 228 in Cranberry, across from the new St. Kilian Roman Catholic Church, school and gymnasium currently under construction, as the site for the new high school.

In addition, 1967 North Catholic graduate Ralph Mashuda offered $1.3 million in site excavation work provided at no cost by his Cranberry-based company.

A committee made up of North Catholic High School leadership, diocesan representatives, pastors and community leaders recommended in 2004 that the high school consider moving to Butler County where the school-age population continues to grow.

By building in Butler County, the new school would be able to continue to serve students from the North Side, said Frank Orga, president of North Catholic High School.

"The completion of the new facility for North Catholic High School will ensure the future of Catholic secondary education on the North Side and surrounding communities, while extending it to the growing student populations of north Allegheny and Butler," Orga said.