An active construction site between the Bishop McDevitt High School building and Rocco Ortenzio Stadium is set to give way to a state-of-the-art fieldhouse next spring, as the school broke ground May 19 for a facility aimed at enhancing students’ physical development.
The Diocese of Harrisburg approved plans for the construction, led by the support of the Ortenzio family and in partnership with eciConstruction.
The 20,000-square-foot fieldhouse will more than double the school’s wrestling practice space to accommodate the program’s growth, nearly triple its weight training and fitness areas for all students, and feature a study lounge to promote student health and academic success.
“For over a century, Bishop McDevitt High School has remained dedicated to our founder’s original mission,” said Jay Wrabel, President of Bishop McDevitt. “This facility expansion is designed to strengthen and enhance the development and future of our students. We are grateful and blessed for the generosity and commitment of the Ortenzio Family.”
Students, faculty, coaches, contractors, architects and members of the Ortenzio family were present for the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. Msgr. Edward Quinlan, Diocesan Vicar General and a former principal of Bishop McDevitt, led a prayer service in the gymnasium before joining constituents at the construction site to bless the ground. Afterwards, Diocesan, school and construction representatives dug their shovels into the dirt for a ceremonial groundbreaking.
“As Christians, we see the unity of body and soul. Just as it is important to take care of the soul – we pray, we take opportunities to advance knowledge and other things that benefit us in a spiritual way – we also have a responsibility to take care of the body the Lord has given us,” Msgr. Quinlan said during the prayer service.
“That’s a wonderful way of introducing what Bishop McDevitt is embarking on with this new center,” he said. “Serving you, our students, is the heart of what we’re about as Bishop McDevitt High School as part of the mission of education in the Harrisburg Diocese.”
“We are proud to assist in furthering Bishop McDevitt’s tradition of excellence through not just athletics, but also in faith, academics, and citizenship,” said the Ortenzio Family. “It is our belief that this facility will strengthen the school’s ability to provide for its students and athletes, from providing a home for its newly minted women’s wrestling program to its improvement to accommodating McDevitt’s growing varsity sports with an expanded weight training facility. We are excited to renew what has now become a multigenerational commitment to enhancing Catholic education in the region.”
Learn more about Bishop McDevitt High School at www.bishopmcdevitt.org.
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
