As countless alumni opened their mailboxes in early April, they were greeted by a hefty envelope filled with a paper they were not at all expecting to see: the master plan.
The packet contained eight different views of an architect’s rendering of the changes that are coming to JC. Renovations to the athletic fields, landscape, and auditorium are among the areas to be renovated.
Accompanying the master plan was a letter from President Richard O’Hara outlining what needs to be done for this plan to take shape. The letter detailed a plan to fundraise the renovations by September 1, 2009, and to have the “initial portion” of the plan completed in time for the school’s 50th anniversary in 2014.
The idea for the master plan was outlined in the Strategic Plan released in 2005 that has the goal of improving all areas of the school, but the actual plan for the changes to the campus were approved by the Board of Trustees in October 2008. The Board voted to enter the Advance Gifts phase of the fundraising by this coming September. During the Advance Gifts phase, the school will collect large sums from donors to build a base for the fundraising.
Some members of the community have been pushing for change in the school for years, after witnessing the building of the Science and Math Academy at Aberdeen High School, Patterson Mill Middle-High School, and the new Bel Air High School. Even without the changes to local schools, O’Hara had been hoping for renovations to campus. The newer buildings “added impetus” to the master plan.
Principal Paul Barker said, “If it gets accomplished, people will see a school that’s got a plan and is looking forward.”
This “looking forward” ideal has led to the aforementioned changes, the most prominent of which will be the moving of the chapel along with changes creating a cafeteria patio and a fine arts garden. The familiar mitre-shape of the chapel on the Route 22 side of school creates a notable absence. The shape of the chapel, which can be seen on school documents and class rings, has been a symbol of the school ever since it was founded.
The tentative location for the new chapel is at the front of the school. This placement is desirable because it will be more easily visible to visitors.
“People wax nostalgic about the chapel as an important place,” Barker said. He wants the chapel to be a larger welcoming place, and he added, “If they do it right, it could be a very cool building.”
Campus minister Patti Murphy-Dohn said, “Moving the chapel front and center will give more exposure to our parents and guests to the spiritual life of the school.”
The move enhances the idea of the school’s “Catholic identity,” moving it from a back hallway to “out front, literally,” as O’Hara put it.
However, there is some opposition to the moving of the chapel. As the reactions of the alumni remain to be seen. Murphy-Dohn said, “Our chapel has always had a lot of meaning to JC grads, particularly related to our school ring.”
O’Hara did say that the mitre-shape will be preserved in the new chapel.
Another big change proposed in the master plan is to the library. O’Hara would rather the new area be thought of as a “learning center” as oppose to a library, and to give the area a feel of a more “flexible space.” Librarian Anne Baker feels this change in the library would be for the better. She envisions the space as a place where guest speakers with crowds too small for the auditorium could come and speak to their audience, and also a place where there could be musical acts or screenings of new movies.
“I just want [the new library] to work,” she said.
O’Hara described the architect’s sketches as a “5,000 foot helicopter-view” of the school, meaning there are many details left to be hammered out.
The school is looking for money through parents, alumni, foundations, and donators. The target for fundraising is to have 50% of the required funds by September 1, 2010. There, the master plan will be, as O’Hara said, either “a go or no-go.”
Because of the current state of the economy, raising enough funds to complete the master plan all at once will be difficult. To combat this, different aspects of the plan will be phased in throughout the construction. After the 2010 financial goal date, the target date where O’Hara wants to start construction and have “shovels in the ground” is 2012, with some parts of the construction ready for the 2014 school year.
The idea of having students come to school in a construction zone presents some logistical problems. Barker does not want to see a repeat of “the North Harford High School experience” of going to school during a time of construction.
O’Hara said, “We don’t want students wearing hard hats and dodging construction zones.”
However, neither Barker nor O’Hara feel it will be hard to attract prospective students, seeing as the ends of the project will be beneficial to all who set foot in the school.
Complete plans and concepts can be seen on the school website under Parents’ News & Bulletins.
Despite the extensive amount of planning and work that has gone into the master plan, a question is still raised on the plausibility of the plan. “A lot of things are great in concept, but I want to see the execution,” said Baker.