BATON ROUGE- Students watched on in excitement as a house near their school was taken apart piece by piece. The empty building along Hearthstone Drive no longer sits across from the high school, and it's all part of the school's initiative to make room for its new student center.

"We are soon going to build a new student center and start a new beginning for Catholic High," said Daniel Barfield, the future student council president.

The high school is in the process of prepping the ground to open its new student center. Daniel Barfield says the project will be a huge boon for the school.

"Our current student union does not hold that many people total," Barfield said.

The school has nearly 2,000 students. The current cafeteria can only hold 600 students at a time.

"So we have been using that same cafeteria since the 1970s," said Lisa Harvey, the school's principal.

The $14 million project will also benefit the school in other areas.

"It will just provide other classrooms and seating arrangements and really help provide more opportunities," Barfield said.

The 32,000-square-foot facility will include two stories that will house a new campus ministry, an outdoor pavilion, a conference room and an outdoor terrace.

"It's pretty cool we are kind of the first class to use it,"  one student said.

"I think it's going to be a great experiencing for freshmen sophomores and 8th graders, I can't wait for it, I can't wait," another student said.

The project is expected to be completed by the summer in 2021.