St. Augustine School Going Under Construction

Without an expansion for over 50 years, some might say St. Augustine School on Central Street was due for one.

Well, with the recent passage of the project through the Andover Planing Board, the administration at St. Augustine School is now looking forward to the start of their Centennial Gym Project. 

"For nearly 100 years, the building at 26 Central Street has remained one of a small handful of foundational brick cornerstones anchoring downtown Andover," read a statement about the project from St. Augustine School. 

"Its last major expansion was in 1962, when the original building doubled in size -- courtesy of an addition of classrooms and a cafeteria. This summer, St. Augustine School plans to add a long-needed gymnasium to its campus."

The new gymnasium will sit 30 feet from the currently standing St. Augustine School, spanning standard middle school gym size, roughly 6,900 sq. ft.

The school is planning for construction to begin this summer and last roughly 10 to 12 months before opening for students, faculty and staff. 

“This is a galvanizing year of change for St. Augustine School and the Catholic community as a whole,” said Father Peter Gori of St. Augustine Parish. “We welcome to our spiritual leadership a new Pope and will locally celebrate a century of academic excellence at St. Augustine School in Andover. It’s a time ripe with excitement about the future and what we can continue to do and be for our students, our staff, our parents, and our community.” 

The school has already raised significant funds for the expansion but is still planning fundraisers to gather the rest of what is needed for the new gym. 

One such event is the Walk-a-Thon on June 3. The Walk-a-Thon was originally started last year by co-chairs Angela Dulac and Lisa DelloRusso, both parents of St. Augustine School students. 

“As a Catholic school, students at St. Augustine learn about service, mission and giving--so we organized an event that brought our core value of mission and service in line with our goal to build a gym,” said Walk-a-Thon co-chair, Angela Dulac. “By participating in this fundraiser, our children learn how they too can give back to the community that gives something to them each and every day.”

In its very first year of execution, the Walk-a-Thon raised more than $35,000 for the school and this year, the goal has been raised to $50,000—with sights strongly set on continued funding for the Centennial Gym project. 

St. Augustine's School contributed to this report.