Golden shovels shone brightly on the sunlit afternoon of April 30 at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School in Chandler, Ariz., as staff and diocesan leaders “dug in,” breaking ground for the construction of a new event center.
Since 2020, Seton has fundraised and invested close to $8 million in campus renovations, including baseball and softball field lights and a full redesign of the front entrance. Now, through a generous $7 million gift by Shea Homes, Seton is continuing to build up their campus to match the first-class Catholic education the school offers.
“The event center will be a [two-floor] 50,000-square-foot building that will house a new gymnasium, brand new athletic rooms, film rooms and locker rooms,” explained Terry Licht, communications coordinator at Seton.
With the current gym constantly overbooked by Seton’s many athletic teams, the new space will enable athletes to practice at more reasonable hours of the day. It will also allow local Parks and Recreation use of the space for meets and tournaments.
In addition to athletics, the new building will highlight the Catholic values of the school.
“It is going to allow us to gather to use it for true sacred space,” explained Victor Serna, principal of Seton Catholic Preparatory. Although the new building will also be a gym, “the new space will include design changes from traditional score boards to video displays that can be used for worship aides… We are designing in a way so the focus is on the sacred liturgy.
“We are also going to have the capacity to invite people to come and join us for our celebrations,” continued Serna. “[We will have space for] alumni, parents, local theater programs and partner schools like St. Mary Basha, St. John Bosco, Queen of Peace and St. Timothy.”
Serna would like to use the building not only for the community at Seton but as a rallying space for the whole East Valley community. Fitting up to 1,000 people, the event center can be used for civic events, fundraisers or a meeting space for special events.
Groundbreaking ceremony
The groundbreaking ceremony opened with a prayer by sophomore student Rylan Keane and continued with addresses by Serna, Campaign Chair Sal Flores and Syliva Stoll who, more than 60 years ago, was a student in the first graduating class when the Seton campus was located on Williams Field Road.
Bishop John Dolan then spoke of his gratitude for being present. He blessed the site with holy water and prayed for a successful completion to the construction and that God would keep those who work on the project safe from injury.
School and diocesan leaders then took up their shovels and ceremonially broke into the ground. Among those digging were diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Schools Domonic Salce, diocesan Vicar General and basilica Rector Fr. John Muir, Seton Catholic Chaplain Fr. Ian Wintering, diocesan Director of Buildings and Properties Zach Kilgas and Shea Homes President Hal Looney.
“In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we hope this [building] will be up and running quickly and that our hope [will not be] in vain,” concluded Bishop Dolan.
