Iona Preparatory School celebrated the groundbreaking of the expanded Paul Verni Fine Arts Center at its homecoming celebration on Oct. 16, 105 years
to the day that the school first opened in New Rochelle. Brother Thomas R. Leto, president of Iona Prep, gathered with school officials, donors, architects
and alumni for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the construction of a new 21,000-square-foot performing arts center on its 26-acre Upper School campus, located at 255 Wilmot Road in New Rochelle.
The expansion of the Center ill include a 409-seat, stadium-style theater with full-size scene shop that will accommodate the latest musical and theatrical
productions, grade-wide lecture series, and presentation space for the school’s nationally competitive speech-and-debate team. Spacious practice and
performance spaces for musicians and vocalists, coupled with hands-on learning using the latest in audio, lighting and digital recording systems, will collectively promote creative thinking, build cognitive skills, and boost self-confidence.
“The expansion of the Paul Verni Fine Arts Center is one of the largest academic building projects in our history,”Leto said. “We have been talking about
building a theater at Iona Prep for years and this is an exciting moment, solidifying our commitment to the arts and expanding career paths for students to prepare for the future.”
The expansion is a direct result of the school’s $10 million Centennial Campaign for Excellence that started in 2014 to provide facility enhancements and instructional improvements at both the Upper and Lower School campuses. That campaign included the current expansion, as well as the renovation of the Devlin Library & Center for Excellence at the Lower School, and was supercharged by million dollar leadership gifts from alumni parents John and June Heffernan, alumni grandparents and honorary Christian Brothers Joseph and the late JoAnn Murphy, and alumni parents and grandparents Vito and
the late Mary Verni.
“The young man who was the inspiration for the concept of the original building, my son Paul, absolutely loved Iona [Prep],” former board member Vito Verni
told the more than 100 supporters gathered for the ceremonial groundbreaking. “Today, we arrive at the day, which is the start of making that extension, that
dream, a reality.”
Peter Gisolfi Associates of Hastings-on-Hudson are the architects of the project. The firm is a regional expert in academic buildings, campus master plans,
academic and public libraries, having earned more than 85 awards and citations in design since 1988. Locally, their work includes the Performing Arts Center at Rye Country Day School and the Fonseca Center for Athletics and Arts at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry. The expanded Iona Prep facility is scheduled to open in the spring of 2023.
The Center is named for Paul Verni, a 1981 Iona Prep Upper School graduate from Scarsdale, who was diagnosed with Leukemia his senior year and died a
year after graduation. The Center was erected in 1986 to provide a learning environment for the artistic expression of Iona men. Currently, the Paul Verni Arts Center is home to the Upper School’s art and music classes, where students take their ideas from concept to completion. In art, this covers a variety of mediums, from pencil to pastel, while music students learn the process of creating their own compositions. It also houses the DiGioia Family Media Arts Center, better known as the GaelForce Live studio, where students deliver daily morning announcements in broadcast news fashion.
(Submitted)
