The following article was originally published in The Winchester Star on 08/11/2016. Article by Amy Alonzo; photos by Scott Mason.
WINCHESTER, VA — Sacred Heart Academy students will start the school year with a renovated and expanded multipurpose room and kitchen.
“I’m so excited I can’t stand it,” Principal Susan Parks
The multipurpose room features a new stage, meal tables that fold into the walls and a new concessions area.
A kitchen manager has been hired to oversee food services. In past years, the school relied on catered lunch services from restaurants such as Subway and McDonald’s.
The old kitchen did not have adequate space for the equipment needed to prepare meals.
Sacred Heart is a private Catholic school that serves about 250 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students. Opened in 1957, the school is located off Amherst Street.
Finishing touches on the multipurpose room and kitchen will be completed by the first day of school on Aug. 22, Parks said.
In addition, work on the school’s new gym, the first in Sacred Heart’s history, is being built adjacent to the multipurpose room.
It is over 50 percent completed, said Jeremie Southerly, a superintendent with Broadway-based Lantz Construction, and should be completed around January, he said.
The 11,475-square-foot space will have a multiuse basketball court, bleachers that can seat up to 200 people, locker rooms, administrative offices and storage space.
Work on the $4 million project will continue during the school year. Classrooms are far enough away from the construction zone that noise will not be a distraction, Parks said.
The project is on budget, she added.
A dedication ceremony for the space will be held once the gym is completed.
— Contact Amy Alonzo at aalonzo@winchesterstar.com
PHOTO CAPTION:
Sacred Heart Academy Principal Susan Parks (left) talks with Jeremie Southerly, of Lantz Construction, as they tour an entrance and locker room area of a new gymnasium under construction at the school. (Photo by Scott Mason/The Winchester Star)