It’s one thing to talk the talk, but it’s another to walk the walk. And when its time for the Cathedral High School football team to walk out for its first home game of the season, it won’t have to take many steps.

Within the past few weeks, Cathedral has seen significant development of its newly constructed athletics field house — a project started from the ground up this past March.

The building is located directly adjacent to the football field’s north end zone and between the school’s softball field.

“It’s the perfect location,” Green Wave football coach Chuck Darbone said. “There aren’t many high schools that come out of their own end zone onto the field. I’m sure there will be some butterflies as they come out.”

The project — set to be completed with finishing touches over the next couple of weeks — was estimated to cost between $550,000 and $600,000. Cathedral began fundraising through a capital campaign at the beginning of 2017 and also received funds through an anonymous donor.

The new building features locker rooms for the football, softball and both soccer teams. It will replace the more than 30-year-old field house that will now serve as a home for junior varsity athletics.

“It really did happen in a short period of time,” Darbone said. “We hope it stands the test of time like the old one did.”

As the project has progressed, Darbone said it is a special scene to see the tangible building.

“Talking with some of the former players, they thought they would be in a new building years ago. It just never materialized,” he said. “With new facilities, it brings new blood to the program. The kids are excited about having new stuff.”

One of the biggest advantages to the new field house, Darbone said, is the amount of room it has compared to the old building.

The new structure has a separate room for equipment, while Cathedral has its jerseys hanging tightly in Darbone’s current office.

“We are just throwing stuff together now (at the old field house) because there is not enough storage space. Every time someone turns something in, there’s nowhere to put it,” he said. “It all just kind of stacks up, but now we will be able to store our equipment a lot easier.”

With the new field house nearly complete, Darbone said he is eager to see the finished product.

“When all the money was raised, we didn’t know all the particulars. We have been kind of figuring it all out over the last few weeks,” he said. “We are finally going to catch up to the 21st century and not just replace or repair stuff. It’s a sense of pride for everyone that is going to be in it.”