February 18, 2026
On a crisp February morning as the sun rose over St. John’s University, the first signs of transformation settled over the Queens, NY, campus. Behind the construction fencing erected last semester, the steady hum of heavy machinery echoed across a barren parking lot. After years of planning, approvals, and design tweaks, the construction of the new Red Storm basketball practice facility had officially begun.
Construction crews moved with purpose. A mountain of recent snow was pushed to a far-flung corner. Surveyors had marked out the footprint of the future building; their red neon flags fluttered in the winter wind. Excavators rolled into position, their arms stretching toward the same frigid earth, once carved out by retreating glaciers of long ago.
With a singular, echoing bang to the surface and the first heavy scoop of cascading soil, the project shifted from dream to reality.
“Today marks the first step in building a facility that will shape the future of our basketball programs for decades to come,” stated Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President. “We are proud to break ground on a project that will give student‑athletes a world‑class place to train, grow, and succeed.”
As digging for the footings and foundation progressed, piles of dirt rose and reshaped the landscape. Each new trench carved into the ground represents the literal groundwork for the program’s next era—reinforced pilings and forthcoming concrete that will soon bear the weight of practice courts, locker rooms, film spaces, and the daily grind of basketball champions in the making.
“Starting this project is more than moving dirt—it’s laying the foundation for new and improved campus recreation facilities,” said Nicole Miskiewicz, NCIDQ, IIDA, Interim Senior Project Director, Office of Design and Construction, who is spearheading this project.
As engines roared to signal the rapid progress still coming, a random student—sensing history in the making—paused along his route to peek through a crack in the construction gate to watch the early stages unfold.
It is only the beginning, but powerful: a once-empty plot now stirs with momentum, ambition, and the unmistakable energy of two historic basketball programs rebuilding their future from the ground up.