Support, vision, and prayers are credited as the catalyst of a major project at Salina Sacred Heart High School which will create a new state-of-the-art fitness center, and in the process make room for a new art room and a new academic center.
A capital campaign came together quickly, and school officials were able to reveal details at a gathering Friday afternoon. It took just eight months to raise over $2 million, which will fund the project.
Once the new fitness facility is complete, the current weight room will be transformed into an art room, and the current art room will become an academic center.
The $2 million is enough to fund the entire project, but supporters are in the process of raising another $400,000 for the endowment.
Sacred Heart Principal John Krajicek said this latest project joins a list of major accomplishments at the school, which opened on Cloud Street in 1960. They include:
- 1983 Endowment Established
- 1995 New Roof
- 1998 Wood Shop / Bus Barn
- 2008 Asphalt Parking Lot
- 2008 Electrical Upgrades to Building and the Addition of Air Conditioning
- 2013 Outside Renovations, St. Mary’s Gym Built
- 2015 Sacred Heart Gym Renovations/ Gym Air Conditioning Installed
Krajicek also noted the school chapel relocated last year, and this year the school has a band room for the first time.
The equipment in the new fitness facility will be dedicated in the memory of Tyler Ritter, a 2016 Sacred Heart graduate. Tyler passed away in 2022 while battling opioid addiction. His father Mark Ritter spoke at the event, and told Tyler’s story. He said Tyler loved basketball, and after he broke both wrists he became addicted to opioid painkillers. Tyler seemed to be winning the addiction battle, and was planning to move back to Salina and attend Kansas Wesleyan University ,when he passed away. Mark told KSAL News he tells Tyler’s story in the hopes that it can make a difference in someone’s life who may be going through something similar.
Salina Catholic Schools Superintendent Geoff Andrews told KSAL News this project would not have been possible without a lot of support from the community.
The goal is to have the new fitness center operational by June of 2026. Work can then begin on the new art room, with the academic center project to follow after that.
