Mooney High School to get $5M renovation

YOUNGSTOWN

Cardinal Mooney High School is staying in the same place, but it’s getting an updated look and improved energy efficiency.

At the end of the school year, work will begin on a three-year, $5 million renovation project at the nearly 60-year-old school on the city’s South Side.

“It starts this summer with a new roof,” said P.J. Fecko, the school’s director of facilities.

Through the two subsequent summers, school officials plan new windows and building

exterior, ventilation system, lighting, floors and ceiling.

“It’s the most significant renovation at Cardinal Mooney,” said the Rev. Gerald DeLucia, president. “This is historic for Cardinal Mooney.”

The improvements will improve efficiency, lower energy costs and make the school more environmentally friendly, Fecko said.

A multimillion-dollar donation from the Denise DeBartolo York and Eddie DeBartolo families sparked the project. Both DeBartolo York and DeBartolo are Mooney alumni.

That donation, the amount of which school officials declined to reveal at the families’ request, generated donations from other alumni and supporters, Fecko said. Donations continue to flow in.

Father DeLucia said the DeBartolo York/DeBartolo donation and those it inspired — including one $500,000 contribution from an anonymous donor — show the commitment to the tradition of Cardinal Mooney, its students and to Catholic education.

“We’re a faith-based school,” Father DeLucia said. “We believe faith is a critical element in a good education.”