Ground broken for new $11.5M St. Charles campus facility
St. Charles Preparatory School has broken ground on an $11.5 million Frank E. Murphy ’54 Convocation Center that Principal James Lower said is part of a campus expansion as the school approaches its centennial celebration in 2023.
“This convocation center is part of a master plan for our campus,” Lower said. “We have been talking about this since 2018. We are in year three of this campaign.”
The ceremony took place Nov. 4 on the west side of St. Charles’ campus, 2010 E. Broad St., near the school’s Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, where students, alumni, priests and deacons and community members gathered following a mass commemorating the Feast Day of the school’s patron, St. Charles Borromeo.
The mass was officiated by the Rev. Robert J. Brennan, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, assisted by priests and deacons who are St. Charles graduates.
When completed, the 27,000square-foot convocation center will include an arena that will seat 1,200 to 1,400 with a space designed to accommodate athletics events, public programs and educational and cultural activities for St. Charles and the community at large, Lower said.
“When we start working on the convocation center in spring of 2022, it will be a yearlong process,” he said.
Completion is tentatively scheduled by late 2023, he said.
St. Charles’ expansion plan, “Vision for the Future: Building Leaders for the Next 100 Years,” also includes enhancing the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. The project includes the installation of pathways leading to the area, waterfalls on either side of the grotto and places for people to sit and reflect, Lower said.
“The grotto is a place where people have gathered for 100 years to pray and pay homage to Mary,” he said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Lower recognized the center’s namesake, Frank Murphy, a 1954 St. Charles graduate.
Murphy is a former high school teacher and founder of The Murphy Group, which designs and builds healthcare facilities. He also founded University Housing Solutions, which develops college residential facilities.
Lower said Murphy credited St. Charles with developing the skills and work ethic that have helped him be successful in life.
“Like so many of our graduates and benefactors, Frank wants to pay forward for the next generation of St. Charles men,” Lower said.
The convocation center will be octagonal with a vaulted ceiling of interwoven wooden trusses. The 27,000 square feet of space will include the Paul E. Heller ’82 Family Hall of Champions, the Riat Family Court and the Anne Park Foyer. editorial@thisweeknews.com @Thisweeknews