By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Regis High School, the prestigious Jesuit boys school on the Upper East Side, will re-open on Tuesday after a two-alarm fire tore through its landmark building on East 84th Street early Saturday morning destroying its upper gym.
Insurance adjustors visited the building on Monday to help the school begin the rebuilding. There was serious damage, but only limited to specific areas not essential for daily operations, Philip Judge, the school's president, said in a statement posted on Regis's website.
"The upper gym is a complete loss and will need to be rebuilt," Judge said. "The faculty dining room and lounge will also need major renovation work. The auditorium floor will need to be sanded and refinished and its walls will need plastering and painting."
That could be done in the summer so the auditorium can be used in the meantime, he said.
"The rest of the building is fine and, thanks to the hard work of our staff, smoke and soot free," Judge said. After the fire broke out, a small group of faculty had come to the school following prom and got rid of the smoke by opening windows, he explained.
The Catholic school's officials were pleased that classes would resume, as promised, on Tuesday.
The fire is still under investigation, FDNY officials said.
