Chandler Catholic school breaks ground on $9 million arts and athletics center

St. Mary-Basha Catholic School, Chandler’s oldest Catholic school, marked a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday for a 17,000-square-foot Art and Athletics Center. The project moved up after a $6 million grant from Shea Homes and will add a gym, stage and specialized classrooms to the 1944 school campus.

Why it matters: - St. Mary-Basha Catholic School is adding major new space for athletics, performing arts and STREAM learning on a campus that has served Chandler since 1944. - The project gives the school a dedicated gym and performance venue, which can expand student programming and events. - The $6 million Shea Homes grant accelerated the construction timeline and pushed the school past the halfway mark on its capital campaign.

What happened: - St. Mary-Basha Catholic School held a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday for a $9 million Art and Athletics Center. - Phoenix-based Knipp Commercial will build the 17,000-square-foot project at 200 W. Galveston St. - Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke joined the groundbreaking. - Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix blessed the site. - The school is Chandler’s oldest Catholic school.

The details: - The new building will include a full-size gym, a performance stage and classrooms for music, art and drama. - The plans also call for retractable bleachers. - The center will include a STREAM classroom focused on science, technology, religion, engineering, art and math. - Shea Homes gave $6 million toward the project. - The grant is the lead gift in Building on Faith: Our Tradition, Our Future, the school’s capital campaign launched last year. - School families, community members and students have also donated. - The campaign has raised more than half of its $9 million goal. - Donations are still being accepted at givebutter.com/SMBGYM. - Also attending the event were Shea Homes Area President Hal Looney and Domonic Salce, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Phoenix. - The project team includes St. Mary-Basha Catholic School as owner, Knipp Commercial as general contractor and Adaptive Architects as architect.

Between the lines: - The size of the gift from Shea Homes suggests strong local support for the school’s expansion and a willingness to speed up a project that was already planned. - The mix of gym, stage and classroom space points to a facility designed to serve both athletics and the arts in one building. - Wally Knipp, founder and CEO of Knipp Contracting, said seeing students enter the finished school is the best part of building schools.

What's next: - Construction will move forward on the campus after the groundbreaking. - The school will continue fundraising until the capital campaign reaches its $9 million target. - The new center is expected to open with expanded options for student learning, performance and athletics.