Cristo Rey High School wraps up $40M North Philly campus

A $40 million project to transform a North Philly factory into a new campus for Cristo Rey High School wrapped up this summer.

The new spot at 17th and West Allegheny Avenue officially opens its doors to students during the start of the school year next month.

The two-year project broke ground in November, 2017, with the goal of replacing the current, early 19th century Cristo Rey High School, which sits at 5218 North Broad. The new campus, designed by Blackney Hayes Architects, spans 100,000 square feet and sits on seven acres of land. It includes some facilities that the Broad Street campus doesn’t have, like a gym, state-of-the-art science labs, art studio, a chapel, playing fields, outdoor spaces and parking spaces and more, according to a statement from the school.

About 50,000 square feet of the project consists of new construction, while the remainder is the renovated former A. Mecky Co. Factory, which produced tricycles in the early 1900s. The project aimed to preserve the history and structural integrity of the factory by leaving the original brick walls exposed and installing windows that matched images of the original factory windows, according to a statement from the school. Reclaimed wood from the original structure was used throughout the new school, in the front lobby desk, tables, and door frames.