Benedictine Schools’ Athletic Expansion Marks a New Chapter in Goochland

Benedictine Schools of Richmond is moving ahead with a major athletic campus expansion in Goochland County, bringing new fields, courts and training facilities to its shared River Road campus. For Benedictine College Preparatory and Saint Gertrude High School, the project represents more than additional space to compete—it is a step toward bringing all school sports together in one location.

With combined enrollment at a record high, the expansion highlights how the schools are continuing to invest in their Goochland home.

What’s Planned for the New Athletic Campus?

The project will occupy roughly 15 acres adjacent to the schools’ existing campus at 12829 River Road. The plan of development received approval in September 2026, and construction began with an access road in early October. Additional site work is expected later this month.

The planned facilities include:

• An eight-lane running track surrounding a turf field, primarily for field hockey and lacrosse.

• Approximately 200 chair-backed spectator seats overlooking the track.

• A cross-country trail.

• An additional multipurpose athletic field.

• A six-court tennis complex, with lighting on two courts to accommodate pickleball use.

• Approximately 180 parking spaces.

• A 5,500-square-foot field house with a women’s locker room, athletic training room, coach’s office, concessions, public restrooms and storage.

Interim president Del Smith estimates an 18-to-24-month buildout. Fundraising is underway, but a total project cost has not been disclosed, and some design details remain unsettled.

Bringing Student-Athletes Together

One of the project’s most meaningful benefits is consolidation.

Although many teams already practice and compete on the River Road campus, some sports still use the schools’ outdoor athletic center at 490 Scott Road in Henrico. That arrangement requires student-athletes to travel more than 20 miles for some practices.

According to Smith, completing the new athletic campus would allow students at both Benedictine and Saint Gertrude to stay on campus for practices and home games across all sports—a first in the schools’ histories.

For families, that could mean a more straightforward after-school routine. For students, it would bring more of their academic and athletic lives into the same setting.

The expansion would also provide an on-campus home for the schools’ existing “middies” athletic program for middle school students.

Why the Expansion Is Happening Now

The schools currently serve a combined 586 students, their highest enrollment to date. That growth follows an August 2025 decision by the Goochland County Board of Supervisors to increase the campus’s maximum permitted occupancy from 935 to 1,500 people.

That occupancy limit is not the same as student enrollment. It establishes how many people may be on campus, rather than indicating that the schools plan to enroll 1,500 students.

School leadership previously identified the athletic expansion as a project that could support future growth, including consideration of a possible 350-student middle school program. That potential academic program remains separate from the existing middle school athletics offering and should not be treated as a confirmed addition.

Smith pointed to record enrollment, strong alumni engagement and the need to replace off-campus athletic facilities as reasons to move forward now.

A Connection to Henrico’s Redevelopment Plans

The expansion also connects to a larger development story elsewhere in the Richmond region.

Benedictine Schools sold its Scott Road athletic property to the Henrico Economic Development Authority in early 2023 for $4.5 million. The schools continue to use it through a leaseback arrangement.

That property is part of the land slated for Henrico’s 93-acre Best Products Reimagined mixed-use redevelopment, previously pitched as GreenCity. Building replacement facilities in Goochland would help the schools prepare for the eventual loss of access to the Scott Road site.

The project is therefore both an investment in the schools’ future and a practical response to changes affecting their existing athletic facilities.

Another Step in the River Road Campus’s Evolution

The outdoor athletic expansion follows two substantial additions to the Goochland campus: the 65,000-square-foot McMurtrie-Reynolds Pavilion, unveiled in 2020, and Saint Gertrude’s three-story, 49,000-square-foot schoolhouse, unveiled in 2023.

Benedictine College Preparatory moved to Goochland in 2013, followed by Saint Gertrude in 2020. The schools unified under the Benedictine Schools of Richmond name in January 2020 while retaining their separate school identities.

The new athletic campus continues that longer transition, bringing more of the facilities supporting both schools to their shared home.

What It Means for the Local Community

For readers following growth along River Road and in Goochland, this is a significant institutional investment to watch. It adds athletic infrastructure to an established school campus while addressing transportation needs and supporting a growing student population.

From a real estate perspective, the project is useful local context—not evidence by itself of changing home values or housing demand. Its clearest impact is on the school experience: more activities in one place, less reliance on distant facilities and a campus better equipped to support its students.

As construction progresses, the details to watch will be the final design, fundraising progress and completion schedule.

---

Source

This post is based on Richmond BizSense’s October 7, 2026 article, “Benedictine Schools moves forward with planned athletic campus expansion.” All reported project details, enrollment figures, property transactions and statements attributed to school leadership come from that article. Observations about family routines and local real estate context are editorial interpretation, not findings reported by the source.