Knoxville Catholic High School (KCHS) will officially break ground on the $5 million, 13,500 square foot St. Gregory the Great Auditorium on Monday, Feb. 22, at 10:45 a.m. in the open lot just outside of the St. Patrick Statue school entrance.
The best-in-class auditorium will greatly enhance Catholic’s rapidly growing band, theatre, choral, digital media, dance and fine arts programs. Construction will begin in March with anticipated completion in December 2021. Designed by Johnson Architecture Inc., the structure will feature:
- 375 seats
- 4,000 sq. ft. lobby
- 1,385 sq. ft. scene shop
- 871 sq. ft. green room
- 55 ft. wide x 40 ft. deep stage
- Full theatrical lighting
- Audio-video production suite
- Fully accessible
Rendering of interior of the new auditorium
Dedicated Space: The new auditorium will host plays, musicals, concerts, ceremonies, guidance nights, honor society inductions, Irish Media Network productions, open houses, Diocesan and foundation school events and much more. This addition to campus will draw more than 10,000 visitors to KCHS annually. The auditorium will be operational year-round and will also be open to the community at-large.
Innovation Lab: To further cultivate the array of talents within our student body, the current theatre space will be revitalized into an 1,800 square foot state-of-the-art Innovation Lab/STEM center to house Robotics, 3D printing and computer science technologies.
At the groundbreaking, expect remarks from Dickie Sompayrac, Knoxville Catholic president, and Richard F. Stika, Diocese of Knoxville bishop. The high school is located at 9245 Fox Lonas Road.
Pam Rhoades is director of marketing and communications at Knoxville Catholic High School