Ground Blessing Ceremony for New STEM Center Set for October 10

On Thursday, October 10, the De La Salle Collegiate community will gather in the school’s Bill Fox Gymnasium for a “Ground Blessing Ceremony” for the new Steve and Kathy McShane STEM Innovation Center. 

The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. Fox 2 Detroit’s Ryan Ermanni will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Fr. Brian Meldrum, from the De La Salle Collegiate Class of 2002, will provide the blessing.  

Attendees at the event will include major donors Steve and Kathy McShane, members of the DLS board of trustees, members of the capital campaign steering committee, the construction and design team, the entire De La Salle student body, as well as faculty and staff. 

The construction of the STEM center is part of phase one of De La Salle’s current capital campaign, “Builders of Boys. Makers of Men. The Next 100 Years.” The school is currently working towards its 100th anniversary, set to take place in the fall of 2026. 
.
Work on the space, formerly the school’s library with several outer perimeter offices began in early June. The Frank Rewold & Sons construction company enclosed the area and is using the school’s west entrance doors and the western end of the school parking lot as staging areas. 

Steve McShane, De La Salle Collegiate Class of 1961, generously made a multi-million dollar gift in the fall of 2023, enabling the school to go forward with its long-awaited STEM center project. 

“I think the addition of a STEM-based center will be highly impactful,” McShane said at the time. 

He added, “My dream is ambitious: to transform De La Salle into one of the premier schools for STEM education in the State of Michigan, a school that kindles curiosity and promises fulfillment of that dream.”

McShane is the CEO of Midtronics, Inc., the global market leader in battery testers and diagnostic chargers for traditional electrical systems, as well as the service equipment for electric vehicle batteries. 

McShane himself credits De La Salle as making a difference in his life. 

“My choice to go to De La Salle put me in a position to expand my educational experience and to get into college,” McShane said. “But, it also helped shape my moral compass and made me a more disciplined person.” 

McShane earned his electrical engineering degree at the University of Detroit and then earned his MBA from the University of Michigan.
 

Ground Blessing Ceremony for New STEM Center Set for October 10
  • Alumni
  • General News
  • News
  • STEM
  • Technology