The St. Joan of Arc Field House officially opened its doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 16. Bishop Joel Konzen, Superintendent Dr. Diane Starkovich, steering committee members, and other key people involved with the project were in attendance at the event, which also included a blessing of the field house as well as the new concession stand and press box at Spellman Field.

After the ribbon cutting ceremony, there were tours throughout the day for students and faculty so they could get their first look at “The Arc.” The 26,000 square-foot building includes a large weightroom, athletic training offices, locker rooms for almost every sport, offices, a few classrooms, and a meeting space that overlooks the football field for meetings, receptions, or any other type of small event.

“I was blown away at the sheer scale and size of everything,” said junior Erin Burke. “I look forward to using the new equipment, and I loved the St. Pius X branding on everything.”

The previous area in the Donnellan Center had tiny locker rooms that multiple teams had to share, very few offices for coaches, and a weightroom that was small and made it tough for teams to use all at once.

“I was super excited to see all the new weightlifting space and how easy it is to access the hitting facilities [for softball],” said sophomore softball player Maggie Maloney. “I’m also excited for summer weightlifting because there’s much more room.”

“I’m excited to see the impact that the Arc will have on helping our athletes and getting them back to playing faster,” head athletic trainer Mr. Gary Schmitt said.

Athletic director Mr. Todd Mooney also pointed out how the field house will benefit the entire school, not just those involved in athletics.

“[It] will be available for all the student body and faculty, not just athletes,” he said. “Now St. Pius has a training facility that is just as good as anywhere else and one of the top training facilities in the state of Georgia.”

Weight training coach Coach Bobby Hayes, who helped design the weightroom space and equipment, said “I think it will be a big help and a great opportunity for all of our students to train.”

St. Pius X is currently planning on turning the Donnellan Center athletic space into an area for STEM activities, such as robotics, giving yet another boost to the school as a whole.

After a year of construction, the project is finally complete, and students can’t wait to start using their new field house this summer.