{"id":82176,"date":"2025-12-13T14:40:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T14:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/82176\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T14:40:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T14:40:20","slug":"academy-of-the-holy-names-unveils-16-5m-campus-upgrade-with-new-2-story-health-and-wellness-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/82176\/","title":{"rendered":"Academy of the Holy Names unveils $16.5M campus upgrade with new 2-story Health and Wellness Center –"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Academy of the Holy Names<\/a> is entering a new chapter of campus growth through its Light the Way campaign, a $16.5 million effort that will expand student wellness, athletics, faith formation, music and long-term student support. <\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the plan is a new Health and Wellness Center that will be built by Tampa-based Ellison Construction.<\/p>\n

Kevin Whitney, president of the Academy, says the project reflects the school\u2019s long-term strategy. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have invested heavily in academics and the arts. Now we are turning our attention to the spaces that support the full formation of our students,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

A new two-story Health and Wellness Center<\/p>\n

The Academy will replace its one-story, 5,000-square-foot athletic building with a 13,369-square-foot, two-story Health and Wellness Center that mixes modern design with space for training, nutrition, events and community use.<\/p>\n

The first floor will include a larger fitness and weight room, updated equipment, a modern training room, dedicated locker rooms, a flex room for film review, new spectator restrooms, and an Athletic Commons for wellness programming. <\/p>\n

A full kitchen will support both nutrition education and game-day concessions. The design includes natural light and roll-up doors that open to the adjacent athletic field.<\/p>\n

READ: How philanthropy fuels Tampa Bay\u2019s economic growth<\/a><\/p>\n

The second floor will feature covered, open-air spectator areas that overlook both fields, two new press boxes, and a golf simulator and e-sports room.<\/p>\n

Cory Ellison, president of Ellison Construction, says the firm is honored to help shape the school\u2019s future. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Academy is one of Florida\u2019s most historic schools and this new facility will serve generations of families,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The project was designed by Wannemacher Jensen Architects. A significant personal gift from Brian and Ren\u00e9e Murphy, parents of two Academy alumni, will name the building The Murphy Health and Wellness Center.<\/p>\n

Support from long-standing Academy families<\/p>\n

The Light the Way campaign has also secured leadership gifts from the Hyer and Rothman families, who have multi-generational ties to the school. <\/p>\n

Their support strengthens key pieces of the project and moves the campaign closer to its goals.<\/p>\n

READ: A longtime Tampa Bay hurricane protection business adopts a new name<\/a><\/p>\n

Kevin Vargas, athletic director at AHN, says the center will elevate the student experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunities that will come from these new features will enhance programming for students, athletes and our entire AHN community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

More upgrades across campus<\/p>\n

The campaign includes several additional enhancements:<\/p>\n

Beautification and restoration of the Chapel<\/p>\n

Refurbishment of the Brady Center to improve large school Masses<\/p>\n

New turf on the softball and soccer\/lacrosse fields<\/p>\n

Additional campus parking<\/p>\n

Growth of the school\u2019s instrumental music program<\/p>\n

Expanding endowment and annual giving to increase financial assistance<\/p>\n

Construction on the Health and Wellness Center is expected to begin in January 2026.<\/p>\n

The Academy of the Holy Names serves about 1,000 students on its 19-acre campus on Bayshore Boulevard. The Light the Way campaign is designed to ensure that every student has access to the facilities and support they need to succeed.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the campaign, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Check out the renderings<\/p>\n

Stay Connected<\/p>\n

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Read More TBBW stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Academy of the Holy Names is entering a new chapter of campus growth through its Light the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[384,4364,1127,2152,113,684,571,276,5131,1515,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,1703,11445,27267,278],"class_list":["post-82176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-community-giving","tag-community-impact","tag-construction","tag-development","tag-education","tag-events","tag-health","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-nonprofit-leadership","tag-philanthropy","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-business","tag-tampa-bay-growth","tag-tampa-leadership","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}