The Academy of the Holy Cross will be building a new gym this coming year, selling part of their property to do so. Construction crews are projected to break ground at the end of the 2023 year, and then students can expect to wait about a year for the finished facilities. 

The new gym is going to bring a modern and fresh vibe to the school, set to be a state of the art facility seating 500 with enough court space for regulation sized basketball and volleyball courts as well as side by side practice courts for both sports. The space includes many attractive features such as new locker rooms, bocce ball courts, a new athletic training room, and most importantly: a spacious parking lot. Outside of the building will also be a practice field for outdoor sports, and a grass area for yoga will be available on the roof. 

“I am excited about the idea and for the future of the school. I know a lot more events can be hosted in the new facility,” junior Erin Cuddy said. 

But the new gym comes at a price. In order to afford the gym, the school will have to sell the frontal part of the property that follows the long driveway. Taking its place will be a retirement community and apartments. But President Kathleen Prebble is confident that the decision to add the gym was the right one. 

“The developers (of the new retirement and apartment communities) came to us with the opportunity to sell, it checked all of our boxes, and we knew it was the right decision,” Prebble stated. 

Those boxes include the new modern facility, a much needed parking lot, and the technology to make the school ADA compliant. 

“Thinking about the gym becoming a 100% full ADA compliant space excites me,” Moreau Program teacher Haweya Farah said. “Thinking into the future and the fact that we may, as a school, have students who require ramps and the fact that we will be able to meet their needs as an institution, reassures me in knowing Holy Cross is a place that readily accepts and welcomes all students, faculty and staff.”

The Holy Cross Community can expect a new road into the school with a roundabout connecting to all three facilities and “a new traffic light with designated left and right turn lanes.” The road will connect to the existing drop off lane parallel to the front doors of the school and will be complemented with a sidewalk on both sides of the road and cherry trees to add a decorative touch. 

“I think it was a financially smart decision,” religion teacher Matthew Newel said. “I agree with the school’s strategic move for these changes.”

To accommodate for rising traffic worries around the school with the retirement and apartment communities, additional roads will be built to access the two areas without having to come onto school property. 

“I am very excited about the new changes, but I am wondering about the construction becoming distracting during the school day,” parent Khalilah Jefferson explained. 

Some parents are concerned about the process, but Prebble assured, “because the construction is not in the current buildings, [the school] should be able to manage the day to day operation without much distraction.”

Evidently, the school is ready for its upcoming transformative renovations, but for the next months the community will just have to wait for the process to begin.