O’Connell gets new gym after 2-year wait

GALVESTON — Not a library. Not a cafeteria. Not even extra classrooms.

When O’Connell College Preparatory School board members and administrators asked what parents and students felt the school needed most, almost everyone resoundingly answered a gym.

O’Connell administrators, school board members and friends listened and responded — riskily and boldly — to grant their community’s wish above other needs.

After two years without one because of Hurricane Ike, construction crews are putting the finishing touches on O’Connell’s new gym. The facility is scheduled to open Aug. 1 in time for volleyball season.

“The gymnasium is the heart of the school,” new principal Marc Martinez wrote in an e-mail. “The one constancy since 1847 has been the Fighting Buccaneer and the many traditions surrounding our athletics and extra-curricular activities. Whether you are a Kirwin, Dominican, Ursuline or an O’Connell alumni, the gymnasium is where we all come together to support the oldest Catholic high school in the state of Texas.”

The new gym cost O’Connell about $150,000. About $120,000 was covered by donations, including those from Sherwin-Williams, the Treasure Ball Association, Families for Bay Area Catholic Education and the Permanent Endowment Fund of Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church.

Though the school tries to avoid dipping into its general fund for capital expenses, O’Connell paid the remaining difference of $30,000. O’Connell still hopes to receive Federal Emergency Management Funds and further donations.

Yet no one is complaining, believing the cost well worth it.

“How can you have a school without a gym?” asked former board member and facilities committee member Alex Gonzales. “With the cafeteria, we just get Mario’s. We can make the other stuff work. But there’s no pretending a gym.”

O’Connell sports teams found that out first-hand the last two seasons. Scheduling became a nightmare as athletic director Robert Newton called all over the island for places to play. The Buccaneers technically didn’t have any home games and played mostly off the island, putting a great burden on athletes and parents to travel.

Practice was even worse. Some O’Connell teams felt lucky to get in a one-hour workout during a game week. Games and practices required transportation, which added expenses or dipped into teams’ budgets.

“I have a lot of respect for those kids who made it, but it was pretty bad,” Newton said. “We had to cancel practices, cut them short, arrange for vans, reschedule games constantly.”

The lack of a gym also severed key revenue streams like concessions and merchandise, while preventing O’Connell from hosting tournaments or renting out the gym.

Many also believe the gym situation affected enrollment, a reflection of the school in terms of status and revenue.

“The gymnasium has affected enrollment due to a few factors,” Martinez wrote. “First, a school is not a school without a gymnasium. Second, the unavoidable length of time O’Connell was without a gym caused many members in our community to believe that it may never be rebuilt.”

That’s not the case anymore. The gutsy decision by the board to spend money, including some of its own, on the much-needed facility sent a loud and clear message to parents, the community and students — past, present and potential.

The new gym has bleachers for sporting events and gatherings, basketball hoops and a grade one Maplewood floor that NBA teams use. It’s the centerpiece or “heart” the school so desperately needed.

It has Newton thinking tournaments, Martinez imagining increased enrollment and O’Connell believing in a better present for the first time in two years.

“I can’t wait,” Newton said. “This is just great.”

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How To Help

O’Connell College Preparatory School still is accepting donations to offset the total cost of the gymnasium renovations. If you would like to make a donation, contact Erin McAfee, director of business development, at 409-392-8945 or erin.mcafee(at)oconnellprep.com.