Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Shrine High scores with new field house
Shrine High scores with new field house
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published November 7, 2008
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Shrine High School and Academy principal principal Gabrielle Erken and parish pastor Msgr. William Easton stand in the school’s new field house, which features two full-size basketball courts. |
Royal Oak — This year’s basketball season will be a special one for Shrine High School and Academy — players have full use of the court during games.
Shrine has been building a new field house on its high school and academy campus as part of a $4.5 million project, which also included a new science area and will include renovation of the former gym. The school hosted a blessing and ribbon cutting Sunday.
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Seniors Mike Schelske, Ryan Copus and Lauren Bald, basketball players, dressed up in Christmas garb for a Spirit Day. |
The former gym space was so small that when the bleachers are pulled out, they actually come out onto the court, right where a player would stand to make a three-point shot. It can be a difficult thing for teams to adjust to, said National Shrine of the Little Flower pastor Msgr. William Easton.
“If you’re on a breakaway running down, you’ll probably end up in the vestibule,” he said.
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Shrine’s new field house can also host all-school events. |
The new field house is also the only large space in the school, he said, so any all-school Mass or assembly had to take place in the gym. For musical productions, actors shared space with athletes. And, the ceiling was too low to play competitive volleyball.
And with last year’s federal court ruling that mandated the change of several sports’ schedules, especially moving women’s basketball from the fall to the winter alongside the men, the new field house features two full courts that can be used simultaneously, with a curtain dividing them.
The two courts will also save the school money from renting gyms for Catholic Youth Organization sports, Msgr. Easton said. The new backboards can be lowered for the younger, smaller children.
When visitors enter the new gym area, they come in through an entrance lobby, which will eventually include an atrium. Two games can be played side-by-side, or one game at a time in the center of the space. Electric bleachers will be installed on either side.
Concessions will be sold in the hallway, and there’s an office/officials room with its own shower. Windows in the gym show off the new fitness center, also a part of the project, where athletes can train when they’re not playing their sport.
The vision, Msgr. Easton said, is that the room will also be open to staff and faculty, and perhaps even parishioners who want to use it.
Several student-athletes said they were looking forward to having a court that isn’t encroached upon by bleachers. Senior Ryan Copus said players couldn’t make shots from the sidelines in the former gym.
Lauren Bald, also a senior athlete, said it was going to be “exciting to shoot a three (point shot) from the corner.” “It will be nice to have a full-sized gym now,” agreed senior athlete Mike Schelske.
A Nov. 15 auction for tuition assistance, technology and facility improvement will also be taking place in the new field house.
Just because the new field house is complete doesn’t mean Shrine is done with building projects. The next task will be to renovate the old gym into a performing arts center. They’ve already connected the addition to the new science labs and art department, which includes a computer-aided design area, as part of the overall expansion plan.
School principal Gabrielle Erken said one of the rafters in the new field house ceiling was signed by all the seniors sign before it was installed. “They left their mark on the school one way or another,” she said.
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