Bishop Alemany High School Plans Facility Improvements

July 10, 2008

Dear Bishop Alemany High School Community,

We hope your family is enjoying a cool and relaxing summer. Please find the time to enjoy one another and create lifetime memories. Although summer days are long there are never enough and the first day of school, August 19^th will quickly be upon us.

Most of you are aware Bishop Alemany High School’s original campus was on Rinaldi Street where our current athletic facilities and Mission Hills Storage are located. On January 17, 1994, the Northridge earthquake turned the campus to rubble leaving Alemany’s future in grave doubt.

Thankfully, due to the generosity of Cardinal Roger Mahony and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Bishop Alemany High School was allowed to relocate to the serene Queen of Angels Seminary where we now reside. Our high school has a small college atmosphere and is among the most beautiful Catholic schools in the

United States

. Certain aspects of the relocation involved parcels of land that were ultimately dedicated to cemetery use or otherwise income producing property for the Archdiocese.

Strategically planning for our future the following changes are being made and we will spend the next few months planning. Once again thanks to the support and generosity of the Archdiocese we have an opportunity to improve the facilities for our student body.

Holy Cross Hospital has begun a much needed expansion to increase their healthcare services to the North San Fernando Valley. They have expressed an interest in purchasing the parking lot adjacent to the baseball fields and will build a multi-level parking structure on the site if there is a sale. This parcel belongs to the Archdiocese. We have an outstanding relationship with Holy Cross and we have been assured by the Archdiocese that our parking needs for graduation and athletics will be met through mutual agreement with the buyer should a sale take place.

Mission Hills Storage recently purchased their existing property by exercising a lease purchase option. They now own the land that our current field house and restrooms occupy. They will expand their storage facilities in the future but will allow time for us to have plans and funding to build a new field house with restrooms, lockers, weight lifting, team room, snack bar and coach offices elsewhere on the Alemany campus.

San Fernando Cemetery has completely depleted their available land for burials and needs to immediately begin developing internment plots on the nine acre parcel east of Alemany Drive where the parking pad, softball fields and practice soccer fields are currently located. Bishop Alemany High School has been aware of the cemetery expansion since 1994 and the near term possibility that the property needs to be reverted back to cemetery use. We support the expansion and recognize “the responsibility of the Church to provide well cared for places for Christian burial, with all attendant rites of the Church, to Catholics and members of their families.”

We are no longer being asked by the Cemeteries to relocate at this time the existing swimming pool that is on San Fernando Cemetery property. We have leased from the Archdiocese for One Dollar per year the land between Alemany Drive and the pool. This allows for additional options including an expanded pool deck, new bleachers, restrooms and locker rooms in the future as funds become available. Our coaches, athletes and parents will meet through the summer to prioritize our goals.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is being very generous by leasing the three acres on Rinaldi St. and Memory Park Lane to our school. The Archdiocese will donate the sod and irrigation on that parcel while Alemany will pursue the layout of the fields, lighting and other enhancements beforehand. Our facilities will actually be better than what they are today. We will be meeting with the softball and soccer families through the summer months.

Our primary focus this summer will be to design new parking areas and the best options for morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. We will be notifying you of our new plan in the future.

Leaving the best for last we are pleased to announce the donation of $250,000 by the Archdiocese toward our improvements and the leverage of an additional $250,000 in the form of a loan that bears no interest in the first two years. This is in addition to the contribution of turf and irrigation on the practice fields.

We are very excited with the new opportunities for Bishop Alemany High School. We believe, with your help, that our academic and athletic facilities will rival any Catholic High Schools’ in the country. Please plan on attending our town hall meeting on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 7:00 pm, in our dining hall if you have any questions.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at [email protected] or 818-837-5208.

Sincerely,

Frank Ferry

Principal