(WSBT) Debate continues over the future of South Bend's Marquette Primary School but not for long. A petition drive asking whether the school should be torn down and replaced, or renovated as it is, ends Monday.

For the last 29 days, signatures have been as good as gold on South Bend's northwest side. One petition reads "Save Marquette School." The other says "Build A New Marquette."

On Monday, both petition drives and the debate come to a close. Sunday night, a last minute push was underway to make every last signature count.

Opinions across the city, and across the neighborhood surrounding Marquette are far from universal.

"It's a very important part of the neighborhood," said Tony Milliman, who lives a block away.

"It kind of anchors things," agreed Mahlon Wise, who also lives a block away. "I know it all comes down to dollars and cents, but I also believe you'll never have another building like this again that would last as long as this has."

"It's an old building," said Pastor Eugene Staples, whose daughter attends Marquette. "And old isn't always good."

For the last 29 days, it's been the only question here. Renovate Marquette Primary, or tear it down to make way for a new building?

And for the last 29 days, people like Staples have been counting the answers and adding them up.

"We've been very successful in gathering names," he said.

The side with the most signatures from registered voters and property owners will determine whether the school corporation can seek a bond to pay for a new building.

John Rayl's son attends Marquette. He says the 71-year-old school is structurally sound, architecturally unique and full of history.

"I think they should renovate it," he said. "If you tear it down you lose all the values of it. I've been in the school many times. It don't look like it's dilapidated. To me, I think it's worth fixing."

But others say, historic architecture or not, the current building is crumbling. Some say there are problems heating and cooling the building, and that it often has a mold or mildew smell.

"A school is for learning and it needs to be an environment that keeps up with the pace of life," said Staples, who attended Marquette in the 1970s, and says he has many fond memories there.

"If anybody would want that school preserved, it would be me," he continued. "But the students deserve better, and the community deserves better."

And the school corporation says it can get a "better" school for $200,000 less than the cost of renovating the current building. The new Montessori program that would be housed there could accommodate an additional 200 students.

Board members have already voted not to renovate the existing building, and to use money from the bond for other improvements at Monroe Primary School and Washington and Clay high schools.

If the bond doesn't pass, school corporation leaders say all four projects could be put in jeopardy. Superintendent Dr. Robert Zimmerman also said earlier this month that the current building might have to sit vacant if the corporation is unable to seek the bond money to fix it.

South Bend Common Council members have also entered the equation in recent weeks. They'll take a tour of Madison and Harrison primary schools next month as they continue debating a plan that would designate Marquette as a historic landmark.

If the council votes for historic status, Marquette could not be torn down, no matter what happens in the petition drive.

That vote is scheduled for November 12.

Both sides say it's clear what's at stake. Now, as the clock ticks, they're making one last push for support.

Both sides will accept signatures from any registered South Bend voter or property owner through Monday night. After that, all the signatures will go to the St. Joseph County Auditor for validation. That process could take up to 60 days.

For more information on the petition for a new building, click the first link at the top of this page or call 708-250-7378. For more on the petition to renovate the current building, click the other link at the top of the page or call 574-235-9798.