Ithaca College To Break Ground On Athletics And Events Center

Dave Maley, 6/12/2009

Ithaca, NY — Ithaca College president Tom Rochon has announced that the college has successfully completed a down-to-the-wire fund-raising campaign for an athletics and events center that has been in the planning stages for more than a decade. With the $52.5 million fund-raising goal met, the college will soon begin construction of the complex that will include a 130,000-square-foot field house, outdoor stadium with lighted turf field, 35,000-square-foot aquatics pavilion and outdoor tennis facility with six courts.

“We had initially planned to begin construction this year and continue fund-raising until February 2010,” said vice president for institutional advancement Shelley Semmler. “But with the current state of the economy, the board of trustees decided not to move forward with construction until we had all gifts and commitments in hand. We initiated a mini-campaign to complete all fund-raising no later than June 15, when a favorable contractor’s bid would expire.” 

“The energy of the Ithaca College community to make the A&E center a reality has been overwhelming, particularly on the part of trustees and alumni,” said Rochon. “The realization of this long-time dream will benefit Ithaca students for decades to come.” 

“We had an amazing volunteer effort behind this campaign,” stated Mike Serventi ’72, chair of the Athletics and Events Center National Committee. “Alumni from various sports teams banded together to name portions of the center and competed to see which team could score the highest percentage of participation in the mini-campaign. A large volunteer group reached out to fellow classmates and teammates, and alumni from former fraternities challenged their brothers to make gifts.” 

In all, there were more than 2,600 individual donors to the campaign. 

A 5 p.m. groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, with construction set to begin soon thereafter. Designed by Moody-Nolan Inc., the center should be ready for use by the fall of 2011. The total cost of the project is $65.5 million. 

Ithaca College began putting plans in place for an A&E center in 1997. The College’s current athletic facilities in Hill Center date back to the 1960s, when IC enrollment was half of its current size. In addition, Ithaca does not currently have a turf field, the required standard for Division III field hockey and lacrosse competition.

To be located in the southeast quadrant of the campus, the facility will directly benefit the 50 percent of Ithaca College students who participate in varsity, intramural and club sports by providing a practice and competition facility. As the largest indoor event venue in Tompkins County, its seating and floor space will be used for campus and community events that draw large audiences, such as commencement and convocation ceremonies, conferences, concerts and major lectures. The center will also offer opportunities to form active-learning partnerships with Ithaca College’s academic programs, such as sport media, broadcasting and athletic training.  

For more information on the A&E center, visit http://www.ithaca.edu/aecenter.

Originally published in News Releases: Ithaca College To Break Ground On Athletics And Events Center.