Kent Denver Celebrates Grand Opening of New Athletics and Wellness Center

At the end of April, Kent Denver School celebrated the grand opening of its reimagined Athletics and Wellness Center—a new home for the Sun Devils to build community, optimize student and employee well-being and maximize the potential of every Kent Denver athlete. 

The 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility features a 5,000 square foot fitness center, an indoor fitness yard, a full-size dance studio, two full-size competition gyms, an expansive film study room, Upper and Middle School locker rooms, a dedicated space for varsity coaches, a community banquet room, a Hall of Champions and so much more. 

"The grand opening was such a great opportunity to showcase for our community all the opportunities we have to support the fitness, wellness and excellence of our students and employees at Kent Denver," said Head of School David Braemer. "Kent Denver Athletics is synonymous with excellence, and this facility will help students be the best versions of themselves as they pursue habits of lifetime fitness."

Hundreds of community members—including parents, students, coaches, alumni, faculty and staff—attended the event for a first look at the transformative new space. Watch our highlight video above for a video tour and to hear reactions from the community open house.

Buffy Fisher '86 was one of many alumni who returned to campus to celebrate the big milestone. 

"It's lovely to be back," said Fisher, who was last on campus for her class' 35th reunion five years ago. She was joined by her father, who hadn't been back to Kent Denver since she graduated forty years ago. "This new building is amazing. We were blessed back then, and this is even more wonderful for everybody. The campus is so grown up and very impressive. It's really cool for the kids that get to experience this moving forward."

Many current students enjoyed walking around for the first time during the open house and checking out every corner of the new facility. 

"The sense of excitement in this community is palpable," said Mr. Braemer. "Looking at these spaces and seeing how our students will utilize them and how much this facility is going to have a positive impact on their lives, it's really exciting."

"Every space is built with intention," said varsity girls and boys soccer coach Jeb Brovsky, who looks forward to utilizing the fitness yard and other spaces with his athletes throughout the school year. "The interior blows me away. I would want this at a place like Notre Dame when I went there, and now our students at Kent Denver have this. It's generational for kids coming through Kent Denver. I haven't seen a high school with this type of special atmosphere, and now we have this amazing facility to match the culture of the people who work here."

In addition to the existing Yates Gym—the main home of Kent Denver's varsity basketball games and volleyball matches—the secondary Black Field House Gym has been completely renovated with the rest of the reimagined facility. 

"It's absolutely incredible," said varsity girls basketball coach Ann Abromaitis. "The weight room is state-of-the-art with everything you could ever imagine. Plus, having a brand new gym in addition to our main gym, there's so many amazing things about this space." 

The Athletics and Wellness Center transformation was made possible by Kent Denver's Excellence, Elevated Capital Campaign—which aims to further our mission of transforming lives of students and community through extraordinary educational experiences by raising funds to attract and retain world-class educators, provide financial support and excellent learning spaces, and maximize athlete potential. 

"There's no better place to be than Kent Denver," said Director of Athletics Jeff Hollway. "We offer a world-class education, we have amazing coaches working with our student-athletes, and now we have this best-in-class space. Seeing this building come together and all the intricate details that go into that, it's incredible."