Maryknoll School gets $3 million for new gym

Maryknoll School of Honolulu has received a $3 million donation from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation to help build a gymnasium and community center which is scheduled for completion in the spring. The gift, announced on Oct. 28, will help the school meet the complex's estimated price tag, which has grown to $21 million from $16 million a year ago, mostly because of construction costs. The grant follows two $5 million grants by the foundation to Catholic Charities Hawaii and the University of Hawaii.

The Catholic school is close to meeting its $12 million fundraising goal for the project, which should be completed in May or June 2009, said Maryknoll President Perry Martin. "We are very, very close to the total amount. We are just short but we have pledges out," Martin told the Pacific Business News. "We are in pretty good shape."

The 35,000-square-foot complex will include the Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium, which will seat 1,000 people and have an NBA regulation basketball court that converts into two high school basketball courts or three volleyball courts. It will be built on a site bordered by Wilder Avenue, Dole and Alexander streets, and Halekula Way and will house theater performances, the athletic department, weight room, lockers, two multipurpose classrooms and 85 underground parking stalls. After the new complex opens, the school will no longer have to bus sports teams to rented facilities off campus.