CHARLOTTE — The public phase for a capital campaign is expected to start next year to raise money for a long-awaited fine arts center which would serve all of the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools.
The MACS Office, the Charlotte Catholic High School Development Office and the Diocese of Charlotte Development Office are collaborating on plans for the fine arts center, which would be located on the campus of Charlotte Catholic High School. It would serve the MACS schools and be available to the wider community.
Since Charlotte Catholic High School moved to its present location on Pineville-Matthews Road in 1995, school leaders have recognized the need for providing a dedicated fine arts facility.
Especially as the award-winning chorus, band, theater and visual arts programs at MACS schools have grown, space has become more limited.
“After years of hard work and careful planning, we are very excited about this much needed expansion,” said Kurt Telford, principal of Charlotte Catholic High School.
Telford stressed that the expansion will benefit all students and families by enhancing other programs at the high school.
“Classrooms currently used for visual and performing arts courses will be freed up for other academic and athletic uses,” Telford said. “In addition, a renovation and expansion of athletic facilities adjacent to the gymnasium is a part of the overall plan.”
The last time a fine arts center at Charlotte Catholic High School was considered was in 2011, when planning was also under way for the high school’s stadium renovation and parking deck. The stadium renovation and parking deck were completed in 2015.
Plans call for the MACS capital fee to provide $15 million of the project’s total projected $23.3 million cost.
The approximately 54,000-square-foot, two-story building would house a 650-seat auditorium and a high-quality performance and exhibit space for MACS students. It would also house two art studios and a band room, broadcast studio, ceramics studio, dance studio, dark room and digital lab, photography lab, stage and theater.
Charlotte Catholic’s visual and performing arts classes would move to the new center, freeing up space in the existing high school building for regular classrooms as well as space for a weight room, wrestling room and additional academic uses.
The fine arts center would be located on the site of a gravel parking lot, adjacent to the current gymnasium wing of the high school.
Jim Kelley, diocesan development director, noted that the schools have not conducted a major regional capital campaign since the mid-1990s, when Charlotte Catholic was relocated.
The decision to proceed with the capital campaign was a collective decision made by the Diocese of Charlotte, MACS and Charlotte Catholic leadership after conducting a planning study. Ninety-four percent of personal interview participants demonstrated support for a capital campaign.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
