MILLTOWN — After a few years of planning and fundraising, the Saint Mark’s High School gymnasium expansion project has been making steady progress since groundbreaking in May. Much of it has occurred out of public view, but that will change by the end of September, when the Coach B. Fitness and Training Center will open behind an end wall of the gym.
The 5,000 square foot facility is the centerpiece of the “Building Champions” campaign, an offshoot of the Campaign for Saint Mark’s. It is the first expansion of the school’s original footprint, according to school officials. It is named in honor of Don Burawski, the first head coach of Saint Mark’s football who led the Spartans to state titles in 1973, ’74 and ’78.
As the school’s various athletic teams went through their paces during the first week of practice, workers continued to bring the fitness center to completion. Mike Carney, the campaign chairperson, said the school community is eagerly anticipating the opening.
“We used to lift on barbells, bars and flywheels,” said Carney, a 1976 graduate who played for Burawski.
As of mid-August, the center still needed flooring, which will be installed in the first week of September, along with duct work and painting. It will include traditional exercise equipment in one section, and a large room that eventually will be covered in artificial turf to allow for agility and other drills. The outer wall will be glass, with a view of the girls’ lacrosse field and, once the leaves fall from the trees, a more distant look at the football field.
Carney is bullish about the potential of the fitness center to lift the profile of Saint Mark’s. Potential students expect facilities like this, he said. Middle school students already have begun to take notice.
“It’s kind of gotten the attention of grade schools in the area. This brand-new facility will register with” students from local elementary and middle schools, he said.
Ann White, a 2015 alumna and director of admissions, said Saint Mark’s is already known for outstanding athletic programs, and can only help them stay competitive.
“As an athlete who played every season in high school, it’s pretty cool to talk to fellow alums and say, ‘Hey this is the best athletic facility the school will have. It’s going to be the best around,’” said White, who played field hockey, basketball and lacrosse.
“We bring a lot of people to campus for so many different sporting events, so I think from an athlete’s perspective, it’s pretty amazing,” she continued.
Saint Mark’s president Patrick Tiernan said the entire school community will benefit with the opening of the fitness center. It will be available to students and staff.
“It’s huge. It’s a great testimony to our community of donors,” he said.
Carney said the capital campaign has raised the level of giving at Saint Mark’s. The school has kept the benefits in the Spartans’ family, he added.
“We used a lot of Saint Mark’s alums to do the work,” he said. That includes the companies that did the steel, brick and electric. The general contractor’s wife is also a graduate.
The fitness center is just part of the project. The Steve Bastianelli Wrestling Center is named after a member of the Delaware State Hall of Fame who coached the Spartans for 23 years, winning 10 state titles. The cheerleaders will have a dedicated space named after former longtime coach Marie Speakman, and there also will be a coaches room.
