[StBernard] Holy Cross to re-open in January. Plans to leave 9th ward location

[Westley Annis]

Holy Cross to re-open in January

NEW ORLEANS - Holy Cross School will re-open in early January for grades 5
through 12 at the school's historic campus on Dauphine Street. Holy Cross
administrators and contractors have been working since Hurricane Katrina to
prepare the campus for the Spring semester. More than 500 of the school's
830 students are expected to return in January, according to Headmaster
Charles DiGange. 

Meanwhile, officials are seeking a new and permanent location for Holy Cross
in the New Orleans area, starting with the Fall 2006 semester. This action
follows a decision by the Holy Cross Board of Directors to relocate the
126-year-old boys Catholic school. The decision to relocate was made in
concert with the South-West Province of the Brothers of Holy Cross, which
sponsors the school. The board made its decision at a special meeting
yesterday. 

"The decision to leave Holy Cross' historic location was a painful but
unavoidable one," said DiGange, a 1964 graduate of Holy Cross and a native
of the Ninth Ward. "Our location in one corner of the city has long been an
issue for parents, alumni and prospective students, particularly in light of
decades-long population shifts away from our campus. Holy Cross remains
committed to its 'boys to men' mission, and the decision to relocate means
that we will be able to continue fulfilling that mission while serving the
educational needs of greater New Orleans for generations to come." 

Hurricane Katrina inflicted significant but not insurmountable damage to the
historic campus and to the school's immediate neighborhood, DiGange said. 

"We share our neighbors' concerns about the future of the Lower Ninth Ward,"
DiGange said. "The uncertainties that remain about rebuilding this historic
section of New Orleans provide added reasons for our decision to seek a new
location that is closer to the student population of greater New Orleans.
However, I want to emphasize that Holy Cross' decision to relocate has been
years in the making and is not merely a reaction to the recent storm." 

Clancy DuBos, the chairman of the school's Board of Directors and a 1972
graduate of Holy Cross who grew up in the Ninth Ward, added, "For more than
20 years, we have had a standing committee on neighborhood development and a
long history of anchoring the Holy Cross Neighborhood. It is our intention
to work with the community to come up with proposals that help to ensure
that this historic site maintains its close ties to the neighborhood." 

No specific location for the new campus has been chosen as of this date. A
search is under way by a special committee of the board. 

"The school's board of directors and administrators are working very closely
with the Brothers of Holy Cross to find a new campus site that will allow
Holy Cross to continue to serve the educational needs of the entire
community for another 150 years," DiGange said. "The board expects to
consider several potential sites in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, and the
school hopes to acquire a permanent campus soon. Final approval of a new
site will come from the Brothers of Holy Cross. 

"All members of the Holy Cross family will miss the school's historic campus
on Dauphine Street," DiGange continued. "At the same time, the entire Holy
Cross community is energized by the prospect of building a new,
state-of-the-art campus that will place Holy Cross at the forefront of
Catholic boys education in America." 

Brother Richard Critz, provincial of the South-West Province of the
Congregation of Holy Cross, said, "The Brothers of Holy Cross fully support
the decision of the board, and we have reaffirmed our commitment to the Holy
Cross educational mission in New Orleans. That mission is one of forming the
whole person by educating the heart as well as the mind. We look forward to
working with the board and the administration and to continuing Holy Cross'
long tradition of educational excellence in this community." 


The Congregation of Holy Cross arrived in New Orleans in 1849 at the
direction of Father Basil Moreau, who founded the congregation in Lemans,
France, years earlier. Upon their arrival, the congregation took over
management of an orphanage. That institution moved to the site of Holy
Cross' present campus in 1859, and it was formally chartered by the
Louisiana Legislature as Holy Cross College in 1879. For the past 126 years,
Holy Cross has fulfilled its mission of "boys to men" at its historic
campus. It is the oldest Holy Cross secondary school and the second-oldest
Holy Cross institution in America - behind Notre Dame University in South
Bend, Indiana. 

Historically, Holy Cross' decision to move reflects a decades-long trend
among the city's 19th century boys Catholic schools - all of which have now
moved from their original campuses in order to remain viable. Redemptorist
High School shuttered its Irish Channel campus and eventually merged with
St. Joseph Academy, formerly an all-girls school, to form the co-ed
Redeemer-Seton High School. In 1969, St. Aloysius closed at Rampart and
Esplanade and merged with Cor Jesu to form Brother Martin High School.
Jesuit High School moved from its downtown campus in the 1930s to its
present location in Mid-City. Holy Cross thus becomes the last of the city's
boys Catholic schools dating from the 1800s to change locations in order to
continue serving the educational needs of the community. 

Holy Cross is one of more than a dozen independent, community-sponsored
Catholic schools in New Orleans; as such, it is not under the direct
management of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Holy Cross is sponsored by the
South-West Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross, which is
headquartered in Austin, Texas.