St. Mary-Basha Catholic School located in Chandler, Ariz., celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for its new 17,000-square-foot Art and Athletics Center on Thursday (Oct. 8). The $9 million development, in partnership with Shea Homes, marks a major milestone in the school’s commitment to providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art educational and extracurricular facilities for its students and community.
The Art and Athletics Center will consist of a full-size gymnasium, a performance stage, a dedicated STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art and Math) classroom and music, art and theater classrooms. All will be custom designed with the intention of fostering academic innovation, creative expression and community gatherings.
The St. Mary-Basha community embarked on a capital campaign, Building on Faith: Our Future, Our Tradition, last year to support the project.
“This is an incredibly exciting moment for St. Mary-Basha and one our community has dreamed about for many years,” said Principal Katie Lyon.
“This center is about so much more than a new building. It is about creating opportunities for our students to grow, discover their gifts and come together as a community … I cannot wait to see our students learning, performing, competing and making memories in this space for generations to come.”
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Bishop John Dolan gave a special blessing and led a prayer for the campus expansion, the safety of the construction team and the future generations of students who will benefit from the facility. Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke, Superintendent of Catholic Schools Domonic Salce and President of Shea Homes Hal Looney were also in attendance.
Founded in 1944, St. Mary-Basha Catholic School is the oldest Catholic school in Chandler, serving Pre-K through 8th grade students in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe and beyond. St. Mary-Basha provides a faith-filled, academically rigorous environment dedicated to forming the minds, hearts and spirits of its students through spiritual growth, academic excellence and community service across all grade levels.
For more information, visit stmarybashacatholic.org.
