CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A long sought project on the University of Charleston Campus is about to become reality. University President Ed Welch announced to a packed room of athletes, coaches, professors, and general student body members on Wednesday a gift which will complete the fundraising for a new athletic facility on campus.
“It’s a very exciting announcement, we received a five Million dollar gift from the Martha Gaines and Russell Wehrle Foundation,” said Welch. “That will enable us to complete the fundraising for an athletic facility to replace Eddie King Gymnasium.”
The gift is broken into two parts. Three million dollars will be directed to the gym, but another $2 million is aimed at the creation of an innovation center within the new facility.
“You don’t see that often, but I think it’s exciting,” said Welch. “Innovation is the spirit of the university and to broadcast that by having a center where we play athletics as well as support the programming for that area of study and engagement.”
UC already requires students to acquire some innovation skills for graduation. The innovation center is expected to advance the thinking and area of study on campus.
“We want to have competitions in every academic department to see who can produce the most innovative project in that department every year,” said Welch. “Then we can showcase to the community and the world the results of those projects.”
The improvements to the athletic facilities will also be a boost to the campus 19 intercollegiate sports.
“It’s going to have a brand new performance gym, new locker rooms, new coaches offices, new film rooms, meeting rooms and all the things you have to have,” said Athletic Director Bren Stevens. “I coached volleyball for 19 years and during that time you tried to hurry recruits through the gym and I never showed them our locker room. It’s going to aid recruiting.”
Stevens said UC was rapidly falling to the bottom echelon of teams in the Mountain East Conference in terms of facilities. Four other conference schools have opened brand new facilities in the last two years. But she said the new gym will bring them onto par with competing schools.
The university will have to raise a little more than a million dollars to match the donation. Construction will begin in May and take 13 months to complete. Welch said the project will gut the old Eddie King Gym with a complete interior renovation. The project will include a major addition into an area which now serves as a parking lot next to the gym.