On the morning of March 5, 2018, students raced across campus to be the first to enter the new Field House on its opening day. As they walked through the doors, jaws dropped, producing hushed astonishment followed by a series of superlatives: “Awesome, huge, amazing, unbeatable, great, perfect!”
By the afternoon of opening day, the new 16,000 square foot Field House was filled with athletic practices, P.E. classes, and activities for all students, Pre-K to 12. The facility represents Phase I of the school’s new Athletic Center. It was constructed in just 10 months, and includes the large practice area, coaches’ offices, and new Middle and Upper School locker rooms.
Construction on Phase II of the Athletic Center began the same day Phase I opened. Phase II includes a rebuild of CA’s decades-old gyms and a new fitness center/ weight room, rock climbing wall, and sports medicine area.
The Athletic Center is one of four capital projects that comprise the school’s most ambitious capital campaign in CA’s 112-year history. With the See it Through fundraising effort, CA has funded and completed the renewal of the historic Welborn House (completed in January 2017), and expanded and renovated the studio arts building (the new Ponzio Arts Center, also opened in January 2017), and built the newly opened Phase I of the Athletic Center. Remaining work will complete the gym facilities and then refurbish the Performing Arts Facility. Fundraising for Phase II of the Athletic Center is nearly complete.
More than any other, this campaign is about ensuring the longevity of Colorado Academy and right-sizing and modernizing key parts of the campus infrastructure. The projects stem from a long-range plan that identified aging structures on campus in need of revitalization. By the time these projects are complete, CA will have refurbished or rebuilt nearly every building on campus, updating structures that were, in some cases, more than a century old.