Due in part to students, faculty and staff being off campus due to the coronavirus pandemic, work on the new Innovation Center is four weeks ahead of schedule, according to Mr. Rolly Landeros, chief operating officer.

Ground was broken on April 14, and at the current rate, work should be done by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. With school being online and no students on campus, workers were able to shut off water and electricity for the remainder of the spring semester and through the summer.

Landeros noted that once on-campus classes resume, students and teachers will need to adjust to construction work that will occur at the same time. The new cafeteria will moved to B basement, which means that all of the classes that are currently there will be relocated into other classrooms. For example, Kelly Hall classrooms that are open during a teacher’s prep period may be used by a math teacher for that period.

The spirit shop/bookstore will remain in the same location in the basement of Kelly Hall until construction on the new bookstore is finished, so there is no need for students to be concerned about buying books, Cathedral attire and the all-important flex break Pop-Tart next year.

The new spirit shop/bookstore will be a much bigger space and include a changing room so spirt wear may be tried on before it is purchased. The store will have its own entrance as well so that parents will be able to have direct access.

Door 2 will serve as the main door to enter the school and doors 5 and 6 will be unavailable until construction on those areas are completed.

During the 2020-2021 school year, the work on the innovation center will affect what already is a challenge even on a typical school day. Landeros said, “Parking is an unavoidable problem during construction, and some spots will be lost by the main entrance, and all spots will be lost by the library.”