Germantown Academy is making substantial changes to the campus, which include a new building, major renovations, and upgrades to existing structures.
Along with renovations to existing buildings, construction for the new Health and Wellness Center has also kicked off. This 25,000-square-foot build is located in the space between the fieldhouse, pool, and Connor Quad.
The “old, musty” breezeway, as Mr. Schellhas called it, used to connect the Lower School and GA Athletics Hall of Fame. It has been knocked down and will be replaced by the grand entrance of the Health and Wellness Center.
Upon entering the building, students will find the Athletic Department’s offices. Additionally, the ground floor will house the new nurse’s office and two multi-functional classrooms. The nurses’ office will be 50% larger, and the athletic trainer’s room will be relocated to the weight room, making it about five times bigger than its current measurements.
The two multipurpose rooms will be devoted to health and wellness classes for mindfulness, meditation, movement, dance, yoga, clubs, and even workshops. “One of our dreams is to be able to expand one of those things into bigger offerings, whether as P.E. curriculum or clubs,” said Mr. Schellhas. The hope for these rooms is that they will be programmed all day, after school, and on the weekends.
The top floor of the building will highlight the new strength and conditioning space. “Our [current] strength and conditioning room is not very welcoming if you’re not a serious athlete,” said Schellhas. With the new 6,000-square-foot fitness center, there is something for everyone.
“Whether you’re a varsity athlete hoping to do athletics in college, a 6th grader who has never done any kind of personal fitness before, or are somewhere in between, you actually can have a space where you can go and feel comfortable working out,” said Schellhas.
The goal of this new strength and conditioning room is to accommodate general fitness for everyone. Although teams will still be in and out of the weightroom, the large interior gives space for those wanting to utilize the equipment as either part of a team or not.
Besides the strength and conditioning room, the top floor will be home to a concession stand that will be open after school. The concession stand will live on the “main street” of the new building that will showcase an interactive display telling the story of GA athletics, involving everything from GA-PC day to the beginning of girls’ sports in the Inter-Ac.
The new building brings in architectural components from the rest of the school. The wood panels echo the new library in the Lower School as well as serve to absorb sound. The stone entryways that invite students to the Upper and Lower School will be replicated in the new building as well. The hope is to blend the building into the overall campus while also providing a welcoming environment.
“We just want this place to be somewhere where everyone feels like ‘Hey, let’s go to the Health and Wellness Center’ like the Pavilion. We want it to be social. We want people there. We want it to feel alive,” said Mr. Ginter, the Athletics Director. “It is very important to us that this is going to be a community space,” said Ginter.
The Health and Wellness Center is a thirteen-month project and is slated to be ready for the 2023-2024 school year. “Everything is on time so far, so fingers crossed it should look good,” said Mr. Schellhas.
The project has been budgeted at 10 million dollars, and, so far with the help of alumni, parents, and the entirety of the GA community, 9 million dollars has been raised since October of 2021. Although the last million dollars has yet to be raised, the school board decided to go ahead with the plans because there is “no doubt we have to have this,” said Mr. Schellhas.
One of the main purposes of the building is to improve students’ mental and physical wellbeing. “You have an institution that is very high level of learning, and then there is all the added stuff which is great. But if you keep adding all of these things to your plate, you need an opportunity to exhale and smell the roses, so pretty much everything we do is going to be geared towards reminding people that that is what this place is for,” said Mr. Ginter.
This wonderful new building is just the beginning of renovations to GA. Mr. Schellhas hopes to one day renovate and expand the pool, and the Health and Wellness Center sets this future project up for success.
In addition, the Field House, originally built in 1987, received an interior upgrade with fresh paint, new panels, and a new floor. The original turf at Carey Stadium, which had been in place since 2010 and deteriorated over the years, was replaced with a new turf this past summer; it consists of more GA emblems to increase school spirit. Lastly, Harkness tables were added back for all English and History classes.