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Construction of Salata Technology and Innovation Center begins at Cathedral Prep

Greg Wohlford

Erie Times-News

Cathedral Preparatory School and Villa Maria Academy officials gathered on Thursday to break ground and bless The Salata Technology and Innovation Center, a planned three-story, 25,000-square-foot building devoted to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and art.

The new building, estimated to cost $12.5 million, will be built along West 10th Street on Prep's existing campus. Jean Eric Salata, a 1984 Prep graduate who could not attend the ceremony, last year made a $5 million donation toward the project, expected to be completed in time for the 2022-23 academic year.

More:Cathedral Prep alumnus donates $5M to campus expansion, will be named for him, his parents

Villa Maria senior Mary Grace Kelly, 18, sang the national anthem during the 20-minute ceremony attended by more than 100 people including current students and alumni.

"I've seen some of the plans and drawings for the new center," Kelly said. "I think it's exciting for the younger students and gives them an awesome opportunity for learning."

Fifteen people used silver shovels, the handles tied with black and orange ribbon, to turn over a patch of dirt spread parallel to West 10th Street. To conclude the ceremony, interim school president Dave Slomski, a 1972 Prep grad, called for construction to begin and the bucket of an excavator parked nearby swung down onto a south-facing wall of the former athletic wing. After a few passes with the bucket, bits of stone and glass fell inside a fenced-off area.

The total cost of the Prep-Villa construction project will be $14.5 million. Prep-Villa will also convert the Prep pool into a dance hall and fitness center

at a cost of $1.2 million and spend $800,000 to convert Prep's existing library into a chapel.

More:Villa Maria students will attend renovated Cathedral Prep, with expanded STEM facilities

Contact Greg Wohlford at gwohlford@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ETNWohlford.