WCDS Launches Campaign to Build Arts Center, Receives $3M Lead Commitment for the Project
Westchester Country Day School has launched a new phase in a capital campaign for campus growth and received the school’s single largest commitment from an alumnus with long-standing ties to the school.
David Congdon, a 1974 Westchester graduate, and his wife, Helen, have made a $3 million leadership commitment to the Westchester Forward Campaign for the Arts, a $12 million initiative to build an arts center at the heart of campus and fund its operations.
After graduating from Westchester, Congdon received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UNC Wilmington and began his career at Old Dominion Freight Line, which was founded by his grandparents in 1934. He worked in various positions, including dock worker, truck driver, mechanic and various executive roles, and in 2008 was named CEO of the company, where he now serves as executive chairman. He is also a Westchester past parent and now grandparent.
“I have always been proud to have attended and graduated from Westchester,” says Congdon. “My education there was especially meaningful in the areas of math and science, and it served me well through college and on to my career in trucking and other personal interests. It has been very enjoyable watching my daughters and now my grandchildren and great nieces and nephews participating in the arts. This is an important element of education that stimulates imagination and creativity. I can’t wait to see them perform in the new Congdon Center for Performing Arts.”
The arts center project is part of a total $25 million Westchester Forward campaign supporting an ambitious campus master plan to add facilities, upgrade existing spaces, and increase the school’s endowment. The first project in the master plan, Wilson Student Center, opened on Aug. 26, 2020, and provides a new dining hall, health and counseling offices, and collaborative space for students to study and meet.
In addition to the new arts center and recently opened student center, Westchester Forward includes plans for new classrooms, an auxiliary gym, a front office closer to the school’s main entrance, a pedestrian quad and outdoor recreation spaces.
All projects will be paid with cash and carry no debt thanks in part to a generous matching gift from The Earl and Kathryn Congdon Family Foundation, which is matching funds raised for the overall campaign dollar-for-dollar up to $12.5 million.
With this match, Congdon’s gift and $500,000 in additional commitments, Westchester has $2.5 million left to raise in order to begin construction on the arts center.
“We are honored to have received such tremendous support from the Congdon family, first with the foundation’s matching gift and now with this $3 million commitment,” said Cobb Atkinson, head of school. “This puts us within reach of bringing a state-of-the art space online for our students as soon as fall of 2022. The project is designed and ready to build as soon as the final $2.5 million is raised and matched.”
The 31,000-square-foot Congdon Center for the Performing Arts will include spaces that are both professionally equipped and student friendly. Features will include a 520-seat theater, workshops for construction and costume design, storage for sets, props and costumes, dressing rooms, art gallery, box office, choral and band rooms, a recording studio and control room, and practice rooms for individual instruction.
The arts center will be available for community performances and events.
“The new performing arts center will no doubt be an awesome addition and enhancement to WCDS,” said Congdon. “Opening this new and unique facility for use by the surrounding communities will bring more people to the campus and provide access to a state-of-the-art performance center that is not readily available.”
Students in every grade level at WCDS are offered opportunities in visual arts, music, and drama. Performance and creative expression are integrated throughout the school’s faculty-designed curriculum. The school stages three theater productions each year and offers several choral ensembles, a rock band, and private lessons in voice, piano, violin and guitar.
“The arts are foundational in our mission, and at Westchester we believe they are an essential part of a complete education,” said Atkinson. “I’ve had the great privilege to watch this program flourish over the years, with our talented school community staging performances in shared-use spaces. We’ve dreamed of this project for many years and look forward to giving our incredible arts program a dedicated home.”
For more information about Westchester Forward and the Campaign for the Arts, visit westchestercds.org/forward.
