Holy Cross set to open new gym for kids this fall

Holy Cross Catholic High School’s new Tomlin Gym is expected to be ready for August when school resumes.

The campus is located at The Way Retreat Center in Midland.

The gymnasium is vital for the continued growth Holy Cross will experience, a news release said. After graduating its third class in May with 14 graduates and 78 students total, HCCHS continues to increase enrollment each year, creating the necessity for the new $3.5 million facility.

Head of School Carolyn Cantu said they are blessed to have such a beautiful place.

“It is so much more than a gym. It is a place for our students, staff and families to gather. God has greatly blessed our school,” Cantu said.

The girls have started volleyball practice and the weight room is in use. The boys and girls work out in it, but not together.

They will be installing wraps so the kids can work out, but people can’t see in from the outside. This one is air conditioned, Stephanie Hill, spokeswoman for Holy Cross, said.

She added that they are still ordering concession equipment like an ice machine.

The gym, named for lead supporter Don Tomlin, includes space for maintenance and storage space, offices, conference rooms, classrooms, and changing rooms and lockers for the home and visitor teams.

The high school now has football, volleyball, girls and boys basketball, track and cross country. They added golf, cheerleading and baseball this year.

With baseball, Hill said they decided not to compete in the Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools (TAAPS) league. They could take part, but Hill said this was their first year and the team members were still young.

“But it was a great year. They had lots of fun; lots of interest,” Hill said.

Holy Cross graduated 14 seniors this past spring and is expecting a smaller class of 10 this coming year.

“Then after that class, God willing, it will be close to 30, 35,” Hill said.

The gym architect was Jason Dean and the contractor was Onyx.

Hill noted that they have a very active booster club that helps provide for more than athletics.

“They help with anything that the classrooms might need and they have just finished their Get on the Bus campaign. They had a big campaign for us to be able to bus our own students to and from athletic games, and we didn’t have that before so it’s going to be a blessing when that finally comes in,” Hill said.