A summer of academic exploration and athletic fun awaits. Register your grade-school student for SHC's Summer Institute today!
SHC Secures Agreement on Marchbank Field
Sacred Heart Cathedral and Daly City Announce an Exciting New Arrangement.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory (SHC) of San Francisco and the City of Daly City announced today a public-private partnership to renovate Marchbank Park. After almost two years of discussion and careful consideration, the Daly City Council approved SHC’s proposed partnership at their December 13 City Council meeting.
Discussions between SHC and Daly City revealed that needs and goals for Marchbank Park were aligned. Foremost among these were an improved community venue, including increased use of the field and elevated potential for outreach programs, along with improved access and an enhanced venue for both players and spectators. In addition, a partnership between SHC and Daly City would result in more opportunities to conduct youth sports clinics and camps at the field throughout the year.
"We are excited to partner with Sacred Heart Cathedral,” stated Vice Mayor Juslyn C. Manalo. “I grew up in the neighborhood near Marchbank, and I’m excited about how this project will benefit the neighborhood and both the communities of Sacred Heart Cathedral and Daly City.”
Athletic Director Phil Freed commented, “We are fortunate to partner with Verde Design who is the premier conceptual designer of such great fields as Paul Goode Field in the Presidio, the Beach Chalet multi-purpose fields, and Minnie & Lovie Ward Recreational Fields. These private- public spaces transform the neighborhoods in their communities. Everyone benefits.”
"The motive for the partnership is centered on the needs of our student-athletes and grounded in the mission of our school, to improve the lives of those in our community as well as those communities around us," commented SHC president Melinda Lawlor Skrade, PhD.
As part of this collaborative partnership, Sacred Heart Cathedral will bear the cost of the upgrades to the Marchbank facilities. A list of the upgrades to the field itself include a transition to all-weather turf, a new backstop, renovated fencing and netting, a new scoreboard, new dugouts and bullpens, repaired batting cages, and a new bleacher area for fans. Improvements slated for the facility as a whole include improved parking and security, upgraded bathrooms, a renovated electrical system, new storage areas for gear, and many more.
In exchange for these improvements, Sacred Heart Cathedral will be guaranteed a fixed amount of rental opportunities throughout the school year while still making the facility available for outside rentals and for Daly City programs to have a home. In addition, Sacred Heart Cathedral and the City of Daly City Parks Department will collaborate to offer winter and summer programming for local youth at the facility, truly aligning the missions of the school and city to improve the lives and opportunities of youth from Daly City and beyond. This is the second such public-private partnership for the school, following their agreement to help renovate Lang Field blocks away from the SHC campus in collaboration with the City of San Francisco, a project completed in 2021.