
For Students, By Students
The Portledge Press
A New Building: The Update
By Avery Joshua-Tor and Kajal Khandelwal

In the words of Mr. O'Donoghue, the project coordinator of the new Athletic and Wellness Center facility, “It takes a long time to build something on Long Island.”
Embarking on this journey nearly three years ago, Mr. O’Donoghue has been tirelessly working with the architects and the engineers to bring Portledge’s dream of having a new athletic facility into reality. His vast experience of overseeing large projects (including the construction of four gyms, eight swimming pools, and several buildings), along with his 20-plus year connection to Portledge headmaster, Mr. Owen Williams, contributed to his earning the position of The Athletic and Wellness Center Project Coordinator. Overall, Mr. O’Donoghue says he is extremely proud and excited about the new facility because he believes that it has the potential to give students greater opportunities at Portledge.
The newest addition to the Portledge Community, The Athletic and Wellness Center, is set to be completed this upcoming July. The new building has incurred costs of an estimated 13 million dollars, and Mr. O’Donoghue has been overseeing the project since 2021. As the community grows, the demand for better and upgraded facilities also increases, making this building essential for the Portledge community. Currently, it’s important that the entire community looks at this as an amazing opportunity for growth. The new building includes a gym that is 50 percent larger than the one in Wellington Gym, multiple classrooms, and a fitness center five times the fitness center size in Wellington Gym.
After a thorough interview with Mr. O'Donoghue, we learned how the new building will align with the visions of the Portledge community. As the name suggests, the building specializes in both athletics and wellness. In fact, one of the main goals of the new facility is to help improve the mental and physical well-being of our Portledge students - a challenging task that can now be accomplished through the addition of a yoga meditation facility to the new building. In addition, one of the five new classrooms will be dedicated to life sciences. The building will also provide attractive lounging and study spaces, such as a new porch overlooking the West Side of Coffin Woods.
Overall, the entire Portledge community is looking forward to using the new Athletic and Wellness Center facility. We are all extremely excited to see the tremendous growth and enhancement of the school resulting from this new addition to Portledge School. Though the explicit contribution that this building will make towards Portledge’s growing DEI and Wellness missions aren’t yet clearly defined, the building has very high expectations for the entire Portledge community. We can’t wait to see the finished project by next September!


