The construction of the new fields and wing of the school can be viewed on a daily basis, but there is little known about the usage of the field and parts of the new wing. I recently sat down in an interview with our own principal, Mr. Donahue, and I asked him questions about the progress of the construction, and about the intended future of the facilities.

Mr. Donahue answered quite a few questions students I’m sure many students have had. He stated that the foundation of the new addition is done and the framework is almost completed. After that, the crew will begin enclosing it to begin work on the classrooms inside. The football and track field are almost completed. The Baseball field is estimated to be finished by fall of 2015.

The New wing will replace the current band room and the current art room. The old art room will be divided into two regular classrooms. There has not been a decision made as to what to do with the old band room. Some of the possibilities include: campus ministry offices, locker room space,   The new “Fine Arts” wing will join the main building via the stairs in the SJ’s. The new wing will also have a stairwell and elevator of its own.

Although the football and soccer field is now completed (lights and all), and appears ready to host all sorts of contests, Mr. Donahue informed me that we never intend to always play our home football games there, and that we will continue to use Palmer Field for the bulk of our contests. The baseball field, however, will be the permanent home venue for future varsity teams.

Regardless of how we plan to use our new fields, Mr. Donahue stated that parking will be an issue, and  students, staff and others will be forced to park on the lawn. On a side note, Mr. Donahue revealed to me that if all goes well, the majority of the current parking spots that have been occupied for construction purposes, should be returned. He also told me that with the new space added to the building, the portable classrooms will soon be a thing of the past, so we will have more parking spaces to use in the upper lot as well.

We are funding the project with donations and fundraising projects all part of a five year fundraising campaign to raise the required money. We are on the third year of that campaign, and we are making good progress. The whole project, field and all, will cost anywhere from 8.5 to 9 million dollars. We have accumulated half of that. We still have 4.5 million dollars to go.

Most of the work is approximated to finish by April so we can use it by graduation time. All of the construction falls squarely on the shoulders of the advancement office. They have quite a large task to deal with. Mr. Donahue told me that in the future the school wanted to expand school parking and build an outer gym and locker room. And no, there is no plan for a swimming pool.