Saint Louis works on major athletic facility upgrades

A room in the new Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center at Saint Louis School pays tribute to Ching and his foundation. Courtesy Saint Louis School.

Gone is Gerber Fieldhouse on the Saint Louis School campus, and it is being replaced by a new sports complex.

Groundwork of the final phase of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center — construction of a new gymnasium — is being done now.

According to Glenn Medeiros, the school president, plans were originally drawn up in 2010. However, the work was put on the shelf for a while due to low enrollment.


“Enrollment had gone done to about 550 students, so we needed to wait a few years,” Medeiros said. “The focus was to try to build enrollment to where we’d be ready for it financially. Enrollment (now) is approaching 900 students. We’re doing real well, so the time is now to get it going. As soon as the foundation work is done, people will see it going up and get excited.”

The initial phase of the project has been completed. There is a new weight room, with renovated and expanded locker rooms and offices.

Clarence T.C. Ching graduated from Saint Louis and he had a real love for the school and Chaminade (the university sharing the campus). The gym is going to have a regular basketball court, with an extra court — a practice court — connected to it.”

Medeiros was proud to say that the facility will have a heritage room, with TV screens informing visitors about the history of the school.


An artist’s rendering of what will be the new basketball court at the T.C. Ching Ahtletic Center at Saint Louis School. Courtesy Saint Louis School.

“We have a great, long history, since 1846, only five years after Punahou,” he said. “We’re one of the oldest schools West of the Mississippi, along with Lahainaluna (1831). We want to be able to tell our story. There will be another room that pays tribute to Ching and his foundation and what they’ve done for the school.”

The bleachers at the new gym will seat 1,200. McCabe Gym will remain in use for Saint Louis and Chaminade athletics. Chaminade will also use the new gym at times, according to Medeiros.

When the work is done — as visitors drive onto campus and look to the right — they’ll see the new athletic center first, followed by the new Saint Louis locker rooms a little higher up the hill, followed by McCabe Gym and then new Chaminade locker rooms being built.


“We did a tour of private schools and noticed that most have another facility for all the other sports like wrestling or gymnastics, with an extra couple of basketball courts,” Medeiros said. “Program strength and amount of practice time, we think there’s a correlation. With the new gym and McCabe, there will be more practice time with the potential of having more teams. This can help us in basketball and volleyball and other sports.”

The cost of the last phase of the project is around $15 million, with about $3.5 million having already been spent on the initial phase, and most of it has been funded by the Ching foundation, according to Medeiros. Fundraising by the Saint Louis Alumni Association and Chaminade has also been done.

An artist’s rendering of outside the new gym being built at Saint Louis School. Courtesy Saint Louis School.
A bird’s-eye view of what the completed athletic facility will look like on the Saint Louis and Chaminade campus. Artist rendering courtesy Saint Louis School.

COMMENTS

  1. Idunnonuttin September 18, 2018 10:16 pm

    This is a nice catholic high school. Marcus Mariota played here. Tua Tangovailoa played here. Jason Gesser played here. They’re proud of their tradition.


  2. Washington Resident September 19, 2018 12:29 am

    Didn’t Jason Gesser just resign as a Washington State University AD because of sexual misconduct allegations? Might not want to associate Gesser with St. Louis for a little while. Just FYI


  3. Mahatma Gandhi September 19, 2018 5:17 pm

    proud of destroying the competitive balance of Hawaii state high school football?


  4. Martin DuPont September 20, 2018 8:13 am

    Outstanding project. St. Louis is the pride of all Catholic schools in Hawaii.
    Tradition plays and important role in forming the future.


  5. Martin DuPont September 20, 2018 8:16 am

    Outstanding project. St. Louis High School, is the flagship of all Catholic schools in Hawaii.
    Tradition plays an important role in the forming the future.


  6. ??? September 20, 2018 8:37 am

    School was about to shut down a few years ago and now they are building this new facility?
    They better HOPE Cal Lee doesn’t Retire in the next 2 years or STL will be a thing of the past.

    Maybe not, they still have June Jones quietly in the background..


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