St. Augustine High Dedicates Phase I Of Campus Project
North Park News
December 2007

Bishop Robert Brom and Mayor Jerry Sanders visit ceremony

Nearly 1,000 people celebrated the dedication of the first phase of St. Augustine High School’s $16.8 million campus rebuilding project. The ceremony had been moved from Oct. 24 to Nov. 7 because of the storm of wildfires.

The building Future Saints event attracted leading church and political officials, along with decades of alumni. Among those in attendance were Bishop Robert Brom, Mayor Jerry Sanders and Father Gary Sanders (no relation to the mayor), the prior provincial in the West for the Augustinian Order that founded the school in 1922. Father Sanders also is a Saints graduate, class of 1967.

Mayor Sanders presented the school with a proclamation marking Nov. 7 as St. Augustine High School Day. Other proclamations were delivered from the offices of Gov. Schwarzenegger, Rep. Susan Davis and state Assemblyman Joel Anderson, who is a Saints graduate, class of 1978.

"The completion of two new buildings and the remodeling of Vasey Hall has given students and faculty more technology and space to enhance the learning process,” says Edwin Hearn, president of the four-year, 700-student Catholic high school for boys.

James Horne, Saints’ principal, says the project was an overwhelming success story for the entire community. The North Park Community Association just named St. Augustine High School a 2007 Renaissance Award winner for best historic improvement in the neighborhood.

In addition to Bilbro Construction’s summer remodeling of Vasey Hall, the school’s original administrative wing, Phase I of a three-phase master plan included the construction of new multistory educational and student services buildings with subterranean parking for 98 vehicles. A new auxiliary grass athletic field and 40 off-street parking stalls were added to Sheehan and Sullivan halls and five modular classroom structures.

The new Villanova and Mendel Halls (Phase I) were designed by San Diego’s Martinez + Cutri Architects. Richard Requa designed Vasey Hall in 1923. Requa, a designer of many of the public buildings in Balboa Park, is an icon of San Diego’s early to mid-20th century architecture.

"The new buildings nearly double the size of the previous campus,” says Steve Chipp, the school’s executive director of finance and facilities. "The school is appreciative of those who made the campus rebuilding possible, especially our capital campaign donors, funding partners, neighbors in the North Park area, and the city of San Diego.”

Phase II and III are currently in the planning stages with no timeframe set for construction.

St. Augustine High School
3266 Nutmeg Street, San Diego, CA 92104
Phone: (619) 282-2184 | Fax: (619) 282-1203 | www.sahs.org