The landscape will look a little different for students attending Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park this year.
The Catholic high school is in the midst of a two-phase, $13 million capital improvement program that will result in the opening in October of a new building that will contain classrooms, a gymnasium and fitness space. Another building, which was constructed in the 1920s, will be renovated starting this winter to add new heating and air conditioning equipment, make it ADA accessible, and make lighting and other upgrades.
The new building will be called The Walsh Center in honor of Matt and Joyce Walsh of Walsh Construction. The couple’s son, Matthew, graduated from Nazareth Academy in 1987.
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“They’ve been loyal supporters and are the contractors of the building,” said Dennis Moran, president of the school that has 776 students.
The new building will have 49,000 square feet and nine classrooms that will be used for fine arts classes such as band, art and drama, and for religion classes.
It will have a fitness center in the basement that will have free weights, a two-lane track, cardio and wrestling rooms. It will have a gymnasium on the top floor that will mean students no longer have to go off-site to practice their sports.
The school now has just one gymnasium. Students use park district facilities and other facilities in the community to practice sports. As a result, they often have not finished practices until 9 or 9:30 p.m, Moran said.
“Now our kids will be out of the building at 7 or 7:30 at night,” he said. “We can help our kids get home at an earlier hour.”
The new gymnasium will have two full-size basketball courts and volleyball courts.
“Our goal is to use it as a practice facility, but it will be large enough for a game,” Moran said.
The building that will be renovated has 12 classrooms and that number will remain the same, but the space will be more flexible, said Principal Deborah Tracy.
The process of gutting and improving the old building will start this winter and is scheduled to be finished by the start of the 2017 school year.
While that work is being done there will be six mobile classrooms on the campus.
Moran said the work to raise money and make plans for the capital improvements began in 2014.
In the future, he said the school plans to take over maintenance and operations of a chapel that is used by the Congregation of St. Joseph, which plans to build a smaller chapel.
Moran said the school is excited about the new spaces.
“When 2017 rolls around we will be in some new digs here,” Moran said.
A date has not yet been set for a grand opening of the new building.
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