SAA Celebrates Security Welcome Centers Construction with Groundbreaking Ceremony
Posted October 22, 2024
San Antonio Academy held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on its new Security Welcome Centers. Held on Tuesday, October 22, at the site of the future East Welcome Center, the structures will be built at the school’s two main entrances to enhance campus security and to ensure a safe environment for the Academy community.
The two structures will provide monitored and physically controlled access to the Academy campus so that learning can be under the safest possible conditions. These centers will be a symbol of San Antonio Academy’s commitment to providing each student with an exceptional environment that will lead to exceptional achievement.
"At The Academy, we take great pride in ensuring that our students have a safe space to grow, learn, and become scholars, leaders, young men of integrity, and brothers on whom others can rely," said Semmes Foundation Head of School Paul M. Quick. "Today, as we begin this important project, we take another step forward in safeguarding what we hold dear. These centers will serve as the first point of contact for visitors to our school, providing security, no doubt, but also being the place where that special Academy hospitality and care will be first encountered."
Malitz Construction, a local company owned by an Academy family, has been selected to lead the project. The scope includes structures for guards to screen visitors, verify credentials, and maintain a vigilant watch over the school grounds; arm lift gates for controlling vehicle entry to campus; new pedestrian fencing; new exit drives for improved vehicular flow; and electronic marquee signs for improved campus signage. Construction is anticipated to be complete by March 2025.
Groundbreaking ceremony event attendees included Matthew White '04 of The Circle Bar Foundation and Nita and Jim Frank, naming donors for each of the centers; Ryan Malitz and members of the Malitz Construction team; and SAA's Board of Trustees, Development Committee, Finance Committee, and administrative team.
We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to the SAA board, faculty and staff, and the generous supporters who have made this project possible, especially Nita and Jim Frank, The Circle Bar Foundation, and The Mays Family Foundation.
To learn more about the project, view architectural renderings, and follow along with our progress, visit www.sa-academy.org/securitycenters.
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