Christian Brothers High School is starting construction on a $10 million, collegiate-level sports building, raising lots of money and the ante among the Memphis-area private schools it competes against.

"We don't want there to be any more questions as far as what school is trying to put their foot forward," Ken Kimble, director of capital projects and foundations for CBHS, said Tuesday.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for The Brothers Development Center will be 9 a.m. Sept. 11, but construction crews are already staking the ground behind the dining hall on the long and narrow East Memphis campus at 5900 Walnut Grove.

The all-boys college preparatory high school, in the Lasallian and Catholic traditions, applied for a construction permit on Monday. Construction should take a year or more. 

The two-story, 50,000-square-foot multipurpose athletic building will house two training and weight rooms, a sports medicine and therapy area, a film and reception area with panoramic views of the school's athletic campus, a multi-function wrestling arena, and expanded locker rooms for football and lacrosse.

The existing athletic building was built in the 1960s to accommodate 150 athletes; the new facility designed by Fleming Architects and built by Linkous Construction will serve 600 athletes, Kimble said.

"We had boys changing in their cars and parking lots, and equipment being stored in classrooms. The board of trustees rightfully agreed that didn't reflect the value we place on their development,'' he said.

The Brothers Development Center is just part of a phased, $25 million improvement campaign. So far the school has been in the quiet phase of fund-raising, drawing large gifts before announcing the campaign to the public.
The school has raised $15 million in cash and pledges.

The first phase also includes McEniry Hall, a science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) facility, and major renovation to Heffernan Hall, the dining facility. 

The second phase will create a new main entrance to campus and a new field house that will double capacity for basketball games and student activities.

The campaign is chaired by David Popwell, a 1978 CBHS grad who is president and chief operations officer of First Tennessee Bank; Bob McEniry, a 1959 grad who is chairman of NexAir; and Tim McCarver, another 1959 grad who is a retired, Emmy-winning baseball broadcaster and who played on two World Series champion teams.

McCarver took it upon himself to make a video from Chicago's Wrigley Field promoting the fundraising campaign and comparing renovations this year at Wrigley to the improvements on the CBHS campus.

"Thinking back on my life, visionaries saw fit to build CBHS, Christian Brothers High School, a school in Memphis that prepared me and thousands of others both mentally and physically," McCarver states in the video. "As a young man I was focused completely on becoming a professional athlete. However, it was the school's vision of developing the whole man that influenced my ultimate career:  broadcasting.

"By fostering a love of the English language and the written word I was able to extend my career way beyond a boy's dream of just playing baseball.''

The overwhelmingly majority of money raised so far has come from alumni. "They care that much for the school,'' Kimble said. "It's a high school; we're not talking about Notre Dame of (University of) Memphis.''

No tuition revenue is being used to build the facilities, he said.

Principal Chris Fay said in a prepared statement, “We wanted to have facilities that not only provided for logistical needs, but reflected the value that the Christian Brothers have always placed on the development of young men. The facility will not only fill a practical need, but will enhance the experience of our students, visiting teams and fans.”

 

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