Article by Phoenix writer Caitlin Hanratty ’25:
On November 16, the Firebird Center Completion Celebration was hosted in the FCAA for its major benefactors to celebrate the official opening of the new building on the 1400 Glenn Curtiss property.
More than 500 benefactors, faculty, staff, and additional guests attended the event, which began with Mass at 5 pm and a reception afterwards designed by Figgy’s Events of Garden City and catered by PRIME Fine Catering.
Construction of the FCAA, the Firebird Center for Arts and Athletics, a 60,000 square foot complex with 16-foot ceilings on its two stories, was begun by Consigli Construction in December 2022 and was completed on September 28, 2024.
The first floor alone consists of a myriad of amenities such as a bowling alley with 8 bowling lanes. The Kellenberg Bowling team is ecstatic to be the only Catholic High School team on Long Island to have their own home lanes to practice at.
The only bowling center on a high school campus sanctioned by the United States Bowling Commission also provides opportunities to students outside of the bowling team, with intramurals being hosted after school.
The building also includes a double gym, which is able to host up to three volleyball matches at the same time. Kellenberg hopes to use this gym to host volleyball tournaments in the future. The gym can also host two basketball games simultaneously.
Outside of physical activity, Masses and prayer services will be held in the gym, which can accommodate up to 625 members for Mass and can be divided by the 24-foot motorized partition.
Kellenberg’s nationally ranked cheer team also has been able to expand their practices using the new gym space.
Also on the first floor are two golf simulators, which excited students such as senior Bridget LaRosa who said, “I was so excited to hear that golf simulators were coming to Kellenberg. It’s an opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to experience anywhere but here.”
Kellenberg’s dance team also has reason to celebrate, as a new dance studio with professional studio flooring and a full wall of mirrors is included on the first floor along with office space, an trainer’s office, two changing rooms, and a concession stand for spectators.
While athletics dominate the first floor, the second floor of the FCAA is centered around the arts and adoration activities at Kellenberg.
A major addition on the second floor is an orchestra and band room with specialized acoustically treated instrument storage. The storage uses insulation to diffuse sound and is resin treated to be easily cleaned.
While the band and orchestra rooms are used for group practice, private lessons are conducted in one of thirteen sound isolation rooms.
Finally, the Maria Regina Room on the second floor is an event space similar to Kellenberg’s Millennium room where XLT, adoration, alumni events, and more are hosted.
In the Maria Regina Room, 10 feet tall stained glass portraits of Mary are backlit and displayed on the walls. These portraits were originally located in a church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but Bro. Timothy Driscoll, S.M, found them a new home at the FCAA.
So far, the FCAA has been used for athletic practice, recreational and competitive bowling, basketball tryouts, band and orchestra lessons, alumni events, freshman FAITH Day Mass, Latin School Witness Day, board meetings, retreats, and more.
Mr. Conrade, the director of the FCAA construction, says, “In today’s competitive private high school marketplace the FCAA represents the next generation of excellence for future Firebirds.”
Kellenberg’s entire family is ecstatic about the FCAA and can’t wait to see what exciting things it holds for the Firebirds’ future.
The FCAA is the final addition to Kellenberg’s Spreading Our Wings Campaign, which has been initiating improvements to the school for seven years.
The Jim and Diane Rowen STEM Center and the Stella Maris Retreat House in Islip were previous additions achieved by the Spreading Our Wings Campaign.
