St. Edward High School Breaks Ground on $7M Commons

St. Edward High School broke ground on a $7 million building that will provide areas for dining, meetings, and greeting visitors. The 15,000 square foot Commons will also provide a new entrance to the college preparatory school, as its doors and steps will face the parking lot in the southeast corner of the Lakewood campus at Detroit Ave. and Nicholson Ave.

“Space matters,” said Jim Kubacki, St. Edward President. “This building will serve as a symbol of Holy Cross hospitality, welcoming all who enter it with warmth, comfort and the company of friends and colleagues.”

The campus’ newest addition is being named the Marilyn and David Palisin ‘64 Commons. The Rocky River couple served as the lead benefactors for the gathering space when making a challenge grant that is nearly completed to match dollar for dollar up to $1.5 million.

A 1964 graduate, Mr. Palisin told the audience at the groundbreaking that St. Eds helped him to understand how to embrace change: “I grew up in Brooklyn. I had never really left my neighborhood until I came to St. Eds. The experience opened my eyes to a whole new world. Marilyn and I want to give the same gift to the next generations of students.”

The Palisin Commons is part of a larger fundraising campaign, The Courage to Act, which is a $22 million-dollar effort that was started in 2016 and is nearly completed. The campaign is structured by three pillars. The first is to provide its students “affordability’ through an endowment, as nearly two thirds of its students receive tuition assistance. The second is to serve students access to “innovation” and creative problem solving, which established the Joseph and Helen Lowe Institute for Innovation that opened in 2018.

“The Commons completes the third pillar to our campaign, hospitality,” said Sean Hennessy, a 1975 graduate and campaign chair. “This is our moment. We need you to have the courage to act to complete our campaign and better serve all three pillars to our community.”