Reading Central Catholic High School

Reading Central Catholic High School (more completely, Monsignor Bornemann Memorial Central Catholic High School of Reading, Pennsylvania) was a small Roman Catholic high school located at 1400 Hill Road in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.

Reading Central Catholic High School
Address
1400 Hill Road

Reading
,
Berks County
,
Pennsylvania
19602

United States
Coordinates40°20′3″N 75°54′36″W
Information
TypePrivate, Coeducational
MottoExcelsior
(Ever upward)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1939
Closed2011 (Merged into Berks Catholic High School)
CEEB code394-140
Grades9-12
 • Grade 980
 • Grade 1072
 • Grade 1165
 • Grade 1270
Color(s)Red and White   
SloganRooted in Tradition. Committed to the Future.
MascotCardinal
Team nameCardinals
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
YearbookCentralma

The school was at the intersection of Hill Road and Clymer Street. Eckert Avenue was on the 'back' side of the school. An alley completed the school's block.

History

The last building used for Reading Central Catholic High School consisted of what was once one of William H. Luden's mansions.[2] William H. Luden was the founder of Luden's throat drops. It is also stated that a resident ghost resides in the mansion. The Luden's mansion eventually became Reading Central Catholic High School in 1939 with an initial class of 75 students, and an addition was made to the building in 1941, bringing it to its current size. Plans were made in 2008 to build a new school on land purchased by the Diocese of Allentown but were eventually canceled. Bishop John Barres of the Diocese of Allentown ordered a survey of the financial sustainability of two Catholic high schools within Berks county, and decided to close Central Catholic and Holy Name High School, creating an entirely new school. Following the 2010–2011 academic year, the Diocese of Allentown closed both Holy Name High School and Reading Central Catholic High School. The Diocese then established a new secondary school, Berks Catholic High School, which officially opened on July 1, 2011 on the site of the former Holy Name High School.

Facilities

Football stadium

The Cardinals played football in a 20-acre complex located at 3850 St Lawrence Ave in St Lawrence, PA. The land was donated to the school by Dominic Mauer. The stadium opened in 1948.

On September 3, 1976, dedication of new bleachers on the visitors' side at the athletic field in St. Lawrence took place before the home football opener against Reading High. The bleachers approximately doubled the seating capacity at the field to nearly 4,000. The home side bleachers were replaced, and the locker room building was expanded in 1969. A new lighting system was installed in 1975.[3]

The Central Catholic Boosters (parents of CCHS students) volunteered to maintain the complex. The stadium consisted of a grass football field, a cinder track, home and visitor locker rooms (with showers), a press box, a fully functioning concession stand, a practice field and adequate parking.

The stadium was originally named St Lawrence Stadium. In 2010 the stadium was renamed Vince Shemanski Stadium for CCHS longtime principal and Head football coach, Vince Shemanski.[4]

Hill Road Gym

The Hill Road Gym was added to the original Luden Mansion in the early 1940s.

The gym is only 38 feet wide and 72 feet long. There is not enough room for a three-point shot from the corners. (Ideal measurements set by the National Federation are 84 feet by 50 feet.)

Central Catholic played Valley Forge Military Academy on December 5, 1941, two days before Pearl Harbor, in the first game ever played in the gym. Central lost their first eight games in that gym before defeating St. Matt's of Conshohocken 40-31 for the first win in the Hill Road Gym.

From 1983 through 1999, the Central Catholic Cardinals had a .903 winning percentage in their gym, a tremendous home court advantage. Snip Easterly, the coach of the Cardinals, said: "You can never replace the atmosphere and history that the place has."[5]

Athletics

The Cardinals of Central Catholic have a strong tradition of athletic excellence. The cards fielded both boys and girls interscholastic teams. The teams competed in the Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association (PCIAA). In the early 1970s, PCIAA schools started to join the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).

PCIAA Championships
  • 1950: Class A [6]
  • 1951: Class A; Johnstown Bishop McCort defeated Reading Central Catholic 50–48 (but later the two were named co-champs as McCort was hit with some kind of a violation according to sports historian Jerry Shenk)[6]

PIAA Championships

1985: Class A[7]

1996: Lost to George Junior Republic (District 10) 61–59

1998: Lost to George Junior Republic (District 10) 62–52

2007: Reading Central Catholic (District 3) over DuBois Central Catholic (District 9) 58–33

Notes and references
  1. MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Archived from the original on 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  2. "Luden Bon-Air Mansion". Reading Haunted Houses. HauntedHouses.com. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  3. "Development of the Catholic Faith in Berks County". GoReadingBerks. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  4. Drago, Mike (9 December 2010). "Banner season for Berks football". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  5. "PA Basketball Hall of Fame – Memorable Places in the Game". Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  6. "State Championship Records: 1943–1974". PAhoops.org. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  7. "PIAA Basketball State Champions, A Boys". PAhoops.org. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
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