When Kristyn Kuhn started working at Severn School in the early 1990s, students were still using the original 1922 dining hall and a gym and academic buildings from the 1960s. Plays were performed in a basement where low ceilings made staging the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet a claustrophobic experience.
"Juliet's head was bumping into a sprinkler head on the ceiling," said Kuhn, now the school's director of communications and the parent of two sons in the upper school.
"There were great programs, but the facilities were so poor."
In the past decade, the school has torn down a half-dozen buildings on its 19-acre campus in Severna Park and spent $20 million on three new buildings. One of those buildings - a 44,000-square-foot athletic complex - will hold its grand opening Saturday with a ribbon-cutting and gala for parents, friends and donors.
Students got their first taste of the $10 million Edward St. John Athletic Center on Feb. 8, when Severn defeated its archrival in basketball, St. Mary's in Annapolis. The gym - twice the size of the old one - was so packed that crowds stood in the doorway to catch a glimpse of the 53-51 game.
David Henry, a senior from Davidsonville, said the gym looks more like the modern gyms he sees at competing high schools and puts a better face on Severn's athletic program.
"It just looks good," Henry said.
Henry and his teammates on the lacrosse team have been using the weight room, which was outfitted with new equipment. Students used to have to work out on the small stage in the old Memorial Gymnasium, which was built in 1963.
Memorial Gymnasium, which is attached to the new athletic complex, is undergoing renovations and will be used mostly by the middle school students. The locker rooms will be reserved for players from opposing teams, which have had no formal place to change, Kuhn said.
Youth sports teams in the community will also be allowed to use the gym.
The new athletic complex has concession and reception areas, and an Athletic Hall of Fame that includes the school's trophy cases. Turf fields adjacent to the complex will be installed in June.
Alex Adams, a sophomore from Pasadena who plays football and baseball, said the school needed better facilities.
"I think it is very needed with the way the school is going," Alex said.
