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Bishop Kearney proposes 66,000 sq ft performance center with rink and turf; board asks for neighborhood outreach and more detail
Summary
Bishop Kearney presented plans for a 66,000-square-foot Performance Center with an ice rink and turf training area, a subsurface stormwater chamber, modest parking reconfiguration and landscaping changes; the board advised outreach to neighbors and requested additional detail on tree impacts, screening and event operations ahead of the public hearing.
Paul Colentino, president and CEO of Bishop Kearney High School, and site engineer Matt Tomlinson of Marathon Engineering presented a proposal for a 66,000-square-foot Performance Center Special District building at 125 Kings Highway South. Tomlinson described the plan as including a single ice rink and a turf training area, serving the school’s athletic programs and community rentals. "The proposed Performance Center Special District Building is a 66,000 square foot building," Tomlinson said, and the team emphasized siting it to minimize views and impacts to the adjacent neighborhood.
Engineers said the project would add roughly 30 parking spaces through reconfiguration while limiting additional impervious area to the building footprint and sidewalks. The team proposed stormwater measures that avoid creating a pond on campus, instead using subsurface storage and infiltration, including an approximately 70×130-foot storm-tech chamber on the north side of the building. The design will connect to existing campus utilities and is expected to exceed one acre of disturbance, triggering a stormwater prevention plan and County review for Kings Highway access because the road is a county route.
Board members asked whether the applicants had spoken to nearby residents; Colentino said they had not initiated neighborhood outreach but were prepared to do so on the board’s advice and staff noted public-noticing procedures (postcards to be mailed). The board pressed for details on tree removal vs. replacement (applicants said they would remove and plant 11 trees as part of the landscape plan) and for clarity about evening use levels and parking/lighting impacts; the design team said the facility is intended as a wellness and training center with limited seating rather than a large-event arena and that evening rentals would generally be similar in scale to school athletic events. The applicant set a target to have the facility operational by September 2027, contingent on approvals and construction scheduling.
The board did not vote at workshop and advised the team to consult neighbors and supply additional detail on lighting, landscaping/screening and operational limits before the July 27 public hearing.
