Bellarmine Preparatory School

Giving to Bellarmine / It's Game Time Campaign

Aerial view of Booster Gym Construction (6.5.10)


Rebuilding Booster Gym for the Future

Booster Gym Ongoing Construction Photos

The 50-year old Booster Gym has served Bellarmine well, but there is an urgency to rebuild it. The gym is a beloved but well-worn building and it is time for Bellarmine to provide its students and guests with safe, modern and functional facilities. The most critical reason for the current effort is the gym is vulnerable to earthquakes -- the safety of our students is a paramount concern. In addition, the building is poorly insulated, expensive to heat and our locker rooms are now run-down and too small.

 

The ?¢‚Ǩ?ìIt?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Game Time?¢‚Ǩ¬ù capital campaign is raising $8 million to replace the Booster Gym with a new, fully functional facility and to renovate parts of the smaller 25-year old Names Gym. Plans also include adding a new fitness center on the back of a rebuilt Booster Gym. The new facility will be seismically sound and built on ?¢‚Ǩ?ìgreen?¢‚Ǩ¬ù principles, reducing both the cost of maintenance and the school?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s carbon footprint. The program-related upgrades will also include:

  • A well-sprung Booster floor, new and safe bleachers, up-to-date athletic equipment, acoustical treatment, and accommodations for masses, concerts and all-school events
  • Girls?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ and boys?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ locker rooms will be clean, modern and serviceable
  • A fitness center will be large enough for a full range of uses and equipment
  • The corridor from the girls?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ locker room to the gym will be enclosed, so the girls no longer have to run outside in their gym clothes in inclement weather
  • The Names Gym will have a renovated and permanent wrestling and exercise room
  • The training room will be enlarged and upgraded to accommodate the growing needs of the students

Bellarmine?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s capital campaign is confidently moving forward, with more than $5 million of the needed $8 million goal raised by November, 2009. The plan is to have the majority of the dollars committed by early 2010, so demolition and construction can begin in February. This time-table may allow for the new gym to be ready for use by late 2010 in time for the winter sports season.