One year from now, the nearly 1,250 students at St. Laurence High School in Burbank will be enjoying the amenities of a brand new 34,000-square-foot fieldhouse.
Ground was broken Monday for the building that will sit just south of the football field and north of the school.
One reason the fieldhouse is needed is the huge enrollment growth in the nine years since the school went co-ed.
Michael Madera, vice-president of enrollment and communications, said there were 456 boys enrolled in the 2015-16 school year. Two years later, the first girls were admitted.
“The growth has been amazing. We started this school year just under 1,250 students. Almost tripled our enrollment in a decade, which is almost unheard of in Catholic high schools,” Madera said.
With all those extra students, there simply has to be more room for physical education along with training and practice for the 28 sports programs. “We’re doing that all now with one gym,” Madera said.
There will be three courts for basketball and volleyball, room for wrestling, an indoor track, training rooms, four locker rooms and office space.
Varsity basketball games will still be played in the main gym that dates back to 1961 when the school opened.
“This is going to open so many doors for our students,” Madera said.
That means no more 6:30 a.m. practices or staying until 8:30 p.m. for training, said Tim Chandler, vice-president of athletics.
Sometimes the school has to rent space at other facilities for practice needs.
“It definitely makes it challenging, especially in the winter when everyone gets pushed inside,” Chandler said.
The fieldhouse will provide training and practice facilities for some of the 28 sports programs, he said. And it likely will be used for some PE classes.
“More opportunities for our kids in the off-season certainly is not going to hurt,” Chandler said.
The Rev. Mike Foley, Class of 1974, said a prayer before the groundbreaking, noting the school community calls for “excellence in academics, athletics, service and character.”
Several speakers touched on the theme that the fieldhouse is more than just helping sports teams improve.
“This fieldhouse will be a place that helps our students in their endeavors in sport and in life,” Foley said.
School President and CEO Joe Martinez, Class of 1999, called Monday “another historic moment.”
“I see the next chapter in the transformation that’s been taking place at St. Laurence the past 15 years,” Martinez said.
He noted that enrollment includes students from more than 90 ZIP codes and nearly 190 elementary schools.
“This was not simply something we wanted. This was something we needed.
“Athletics at St. Laurence has never been only about competition. It’s another classroom for leadership. It’s where students learn teamwork, discipline, resilience, accountability and how to respond to adversity,” Martinez said.
The school board of directors recognized “this was the right moment to take this step,” he said.
As Principal Kristy Kane noted, “buildings are more than brick, steel and square footage. They are a statement about what we value.
“Every time we invest in this campus,” she said, “we are building on the foundation that was laid more than six decades ago.”
Two student-athletes, seniors Isabel Ducar and Sean Rice, spoke.
Ducar is the student council president and on the volleyball team.
Ducar said all students are Vikings, whether in theater, clubs, sports or simply attending class. The fieldhouse will be a place for them to come together, she said.
Rice, a linebacker on the football team, said he chose to attend St. Laurence because it challenges him academically and athletically.
“That experience has prepared me for what comes next,” the future University of Illinois football player said.
It’s “a little bittersweet” that current seniors won’t be using the fieldhouse “as future Vikings will,” he said.
However, “every generation of students benefits from something the people before them helped build.,” Rice said.
Joe Silich, “a proud member of the Class of 1987” and chair of the board of directors, said St. Laurence is not competing with other Catholic high schools.
“Everyone wants to talk about being from the Southwest Side of Chicago. We’ve got to think bigger. I don’t know if (Brother) Rice is our competition. If Marist is our competition. We need to build the best version of ourselves for these students to show up here,” Silich said.
He noted the success of the True Viking campaign, launched several years ago, which set a goal of raising $12.5 million. It is 94 percent funded, Silich said. Whether a $10 donation or $1,000 or more, officials are grateful.
Officials do not have a final cost for the fieldhouse but should within a month or so, Silich said.
Tennis players are paying a price, losing their home court edge. The tennis courts along Central Avenue have been sacrificed for the fieldhouse, but the school will rent courts elsewhere, Silich said.
Looking back, Silich recalled his time as a St. Laurence student, which explains his aversion to pizza.
“Eating pizza every day for lunch, $2.50 for a slice of pizza with a Coke,” Silich said. That’s why he tells his daughters, “I ate pizza here for four years. I’m done.”