Wake Forest University hopes to begin construction this summer on a new student athlete center expected to cost $6 million to $7 million.
The 60,000-square-foot facility, which would sit between Kentner Stadium and the school's football practice field, would include a gymnasium on its third floor to be shared by the men's and women's basketball teams for practice space, said Wake Forest Athletic Director Ron Wellman.
The bottom floor of the facility will house locker rooms for both teams, as well as sports medicine, equipment and storage areas. The second floor will house student athlete academic services such as tutoring, advisory functions and career placement, as well as outreach programs, Wellman said.
The facility will provide about 16,000 square feet of space for those academic and outreach functions, which now are housed in 2,200 square feet in the school's athletic center, Wellman said.
"When any recruit looks at a college or university, the most obvious statement it can make about its program is the quality of facilities," Wellman said. "Even more important is our ability to prepare our teams ... and to allow them to succeed academically."
Wake Forest's addition of a volleyball program more than two years ago meant a third team to share space at Reynolds Gym with the basketball teams. On volleyball game days, neither basketball team can get into the facility for practice. Other days, one team has to practice late at night, Wellman said.
"When a team practices at 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening, it doesn't make for a good situation for academic excellence," he said.
Wake Forest, located in Winston-Salem, N.C., will own the facility, but The Deacon Club booster group will raise the money to build it. The Deacon Club intends to jump-start the drive with funds left over from the Touchdown 2000 campaign to renovate the school's football facilities, Wellman said. The club began seeking pledges about a month ago that would be paid over the next two to three years.
"I would rather not indicate how much we have right now, mainly because we have a number of large gift proposals outstanding," Wellman said.
The project won't likely be bid until June, Wellman said. He hopes to have the facility completed by October 2000, in time for basketball practice.
"We recognize that's a tight schedule, but if everything falls into place we'll be able to meet it," he said.
Because of the gymnasium, the brick structure will appear to have four stories. The architecture will mesh well with the points and gables of Reynolds Gym and the design of other campus buildings, Wellman said.
Lloyd Whittington writes for The Business Journal in Greensboro, N.C.
