Last modified: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Groundbreaking held for athletic facility enhancement project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- On a day that saw the Indiana University family lose a beloved member in football coach Terry Hoeppner, the mood shifted from sadness to celebration as IU held its official groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday to signify the beginning of construction of several major athletic facilities including the North Endzone Facility, Basketball Development Center, Baseball Stadium, Softball Stadium and The Academic Resource Center. The $55 million plan was approved by trustees on Sept. 22, 2006.
Members of the Platform Party addressed the gathering. They included President Adam Herbert, Provost Michael McRobbie, Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan, Men's Basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson, football player Josiah Sears and Associate Director of Athletics, Student Development andCompliance/Senior Woman Administrator Dr. Grace Calhoun. The Hoeppner family also attended and were recognized.
The Memorial Stadium North End Zone Project (target completion is late December of 2008) will house a new, state-of-the-art strength development area used by more than 600 Indiana student-athletes. In addition, coaches' offices and meeting space for the football program, a Hall of Championswhich will spotlight successfulstudent-athletes and teams throughout the history of IU athletics and administration offices will be a part of the plan.
Architectural plans call for the Indiana basketball teams to have a new facility to call home. The Indiana Basketball Development Center (target completion is September of 2008) will serve as the daily headquarters for the men's and women's programs, featuring practice courts, locker rooms, coach's offices and meeting rooms for each team, as well as a training room and strength development area. The addition of the center will alleviate overcrowding issues encountered in the current facility.
The Student Development and Compliance unit at Indiana University (target move-in is in the spring of 2009) will relocate as a part of the facilities plan, moving from a modest 2,500 square foot space in Assembly Hall to a spacious and renovated 18,000 square foot area located on the east side of Memorial Stadium. Classrooms, private tutoring space, study areas, computer labs and staff offices will all be housed in the Academic Center for Excellence.
The final component of the facilities upgrade involves the construction of the Hoosier Baseball and Softball Complex (target completion is November of 2008), just north of the John Mellencamp Pavilion and Indiana Tennis Center. Both stadiums will feature a state-of-the-art playing surface, press box,indoor batting cages and bullpens. Likewise, the baseball and softball projects will include new locker rooms and offices adjacent to the stadiums. These upgrades will position IU to host future Big Ten and NCAA post season play, as well as elite amateur tournaments.
The planned construction will be paid for from two primary sources. Bonds will be issued guaranteed by revenue from department of athletics operating budget, including media rights income, distributed from the Big Ten. The remainder of the funds necessary to complete the projects will be generated through an aggressive fundraising campaign, For The Glory of Old IU-The Campaign for Indiana University Athletics, allowing IU to achieve the margin of excellence that will enable them to compete with institutions at the conference and national level.
In addition, a major gift toward the campaign was announced today when Larry Glaubinger committed $10 million to the IU Glaubinger Athletic Endowment fund. The endowment provides much needed scholarship support for the Hoosier program.
Comments
President Adam W. Herbert
"The quality of our student-athletes is improving every year. These exceptional young men and women are demonstrating a strong commitment to excellence both on the field of play and in the classroom. Our donors have stepped up to expand their levels of support. In addition to major capital projects commitments, our athletic scholarship endowment is by far the biggest in the Big Ten. We also can say with pride with after years of deficit spending, the Indiana University Athletics Department has been in the black for the last two years. There is however one very important component that has been missing in our quest to greater athletics excellence. For many of our sports, that missing ingredient has been high quality facilities. We are going to remedy that, and we begin doing so today."
Interim Provost/VP for Academic Affairs Michael A. McRobbie
As President Herbert has noted, these magnificent new facilities are part of Coach Hep's vision for the IU football program and for all of IU athletics. They focus on athletic and academic excellence. And so they mark the important balance that our student-athletes strike as they pursue on in two different, but mutually reinforcing arenas. Indiana University is more than classrooms and books, it is about building character, instilling integrity,and teaching the whole person. It is also about never giving up. Let us be sure to learn that important lesson, one that Coach Hep taught every day both on and off the field. Persistence encourages us to embrace the rich traditions in history that have brought us to this day even as it leads us toward the future. And let this also be how we remember Terry Hoeppner.
IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan
"We have spent countless hours assessing, evaluating, prioritizing, planning and revising - now we're building. We're putting foundations under our visions and plans. Work, without vision, is fruitless. Vision, without perseverance and commitment, is fantasy. It is a combination of these forces and factors that enables significant growth and progress. As a wise man once said, everyone wants progress, few want change. Change threatens those who silently root for comfort and mediocrity, change causes many to take a hard look at their personal and professional goals and change happens whether we like it or not. People pass away, and that is change. Records are broken, and that is change. Buildings get tired, outdated and dysfunctional, and that is change. How we manage change is a true test. We must overcome our fear of change and our fear of failure, exploiting the human spirit for positive action. For Indiana athletics, to preserve and build upon our athletic tradition, our student-athletes and coaches must have the resources necessary to compete. These facilities are about change."
Men's Basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson
"Every kid we're recruiting right now was born in 1990. Yeah. So when we bring a kid on campus, that's a different kid. And that's why these new facilities are going to make a profound impact on our jobs and our ability to bring in the top-level student athletes. Terry would talk about the North End Zone facility, but he was just as excited about the academic center. He would talk about academic help, learning specialists, tutors and having a better area so our kids could compete better in the classroom. We're excited about this basketball facility, and I know that Stacey [Phillips], Tracy [Smith], Felisha [Leggett-Jack], Bill [Lynch] and the football staff are all excited about what we're going to build. But let's not lose sight of how much that academic center is needed and is really going to help us."
Football Player Josiah Sears
"Coach Hep always had IU at the forefront of his thoughts and knew this building would be a huge step in the direction of making this school what it can be - the best. I would like to thank President Herbert, the Board of Trustees and Mr. Greenspan for your leadership and commitment to elevating Indiana football and IU athletics. To those of you who have generously donated, and to those of you who will, thank you for making these facilities a reality for all of us. Most importantly, though, I'd like to thank Coach Hep and his family for loving this state, school and program and each member of our team so much and for dreaming even bigger for us than we can possibly dream for ourselves. And because he said so, we will not quit."
