SAN DIEGO — A $7.5-million renovation project at St. Rita’s School has transformed the urban campus, providing its students with increased safety and new opportunities.
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy will visit the school on Thursday, Jan. 18, to celebrate Mass and to bless the new additions to the campus, which include an art studio, a turf field, a basketball court, new play structures, and a prayer grotto.
Principal Gina Olsen said the various elements of the recent project, dubbed “Art, Play, Pray,” represent “dreams-come-true for this community.”
The project was primarily financed by the Manitou Fund, which contributed $6.5 million. The Shea Foundation donated an additional $500,000, with the remainder coming in the form of smaller donations.
The project at St. Rita’s is the latest in a series of campus renovations that have taken place in recent years at Catholic elementary schools, like Our Lady’s School, St. Charles School, St. Columba School, St. Mary’s School (Escondido) and St. Katharine Drexel Academy, and at Cathedral Catholic, Mater Dei Catholic, Vincent Memorial Catholic and Cristo Rey San Diego high schools.
Olsen said the original idea for St. Rita’s renovation was “to just create a safer play space for our students,” who were playing on
