Ironically, I was watching an older episode of NCIS this afternoon on the CLOO channel. In the episode, Gibbs and Company end up having to travel to Newport News to thwart an Al-Qaeda member who is about to shoot a missile toward a crowded dock of military families awaiting the arrival of several Navy vessels across the water in Norfolk. Upon further review, the warehouse with the terrorist and his missile on the roof, was located between 35th and 36th Street off of Washington Ave. (next to Dry Dock restaurant). Basically, it's in the Shipyard, but amazingly is also the exact spot of the new Apprentice School featured below..
In what served as a crown jewel event marking its
recent construction, the Apprentice School officially christened its new
athletic facility last month with the 2014 Martin Luther King Classic.
Both the men’s and women’s Builder basketball teams took part in this
tournament, which featured a myriad of events surrounding the
completion of the new arena.
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| The new Apprentice School in Newport News, VA, which houses the athletic center, which opened on Martin Luther King weekend |
The Lady Builders took the court first at 5:30
pm, facing Bennett College, while the followed at 8 pm against Lindenwood
University-Belleville (Mo.). Both teams won handily.
Speaking to the hubbub of activity leading to the weekend, Builder athletic director Keisha Pexton admitted that the preparations were “about to wear me out.”
To kick off the celebration and formally dedicate
the new gym, there were a number of events
accompanying the games. Between
contests on Friday night, the school held a banner raising ceremony, which honored the best athletes from the school’s
95 year athletic history. Honorees whose banners were lifted to the rafters included the six Builder national championship winning teams, as well as
individual national champion wrestlers and golfers.
Before the first game on Saturday, the
Apprentice Alumni association kicked off a triad of events, hosting a
reception in the second floor student lounge. The lounge also welcomed the
Apprentice Athletic Club that evening at 5 pm, before the men’s team squared off against Williamson Trade. Capping the lounge festivities was a student
social on Sunday for all active apprentices and a guest.
But Pexton, along with the members of her staff, are
inspired by the possibilities which will be presented with the opening of the
new center.
“We’re excited by this and still in a little bit of
shock. You see it coming together from the ground breaking ceremony. But now
that the people are here, there’s a feeling of wow, this is our new home.”
The Apprentice Athletic Center is located within the
new school at 3101 Washington Avenue in downtown Newport News, and is one of
many new buildings, including several housing complexes, which showcase the recent
movement of a portion of the Apprentice School plant to within the Huntington
Ingalls shipyard. It is hoped that the new construction will spurn other
downtown development and spearhead a transformative growth of the surrounding
neighborhood.
Along with the gymnasium, the center also houses a
full concession area, administrative and sports medicine offices, a cardio
workout area, three locker rooms, two officials’ rooms and a second floor
viewing area overlooking the north end of the basketball floor.
The football and wrestling teams will continue to
use their field and facilities at the former Apprentice Athletics center on
Marshall Avenue.
“We’re hoping to inspire community involvement,”
adds Pexton, a former standout Builder athlete who is now in her sixth year as
Athletic Director at the school, and in the second year of her additional role
as Manager of Strategic Projects. “There hasn’t been anything athletic related
in this area since the days of old,” noted Pexton, who cited legendary coach
Julie Conn and the old Newport News High School as her example. “Our hope is
that people will come down here, eat dinner in the neighborhood, and come out
to our games.”
The Liberty Apartments, which will house many of the
850 Apprentice students, but are available for non-students, began leasing the
units last June, while the school held its grand opening ceremony last month,
and started holding class last Monday.
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