Best Basketball Facility in D3

Started by cougar, February 05, 2008, 04:22:03 PM

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cougar

Just saw the new drawings for Calvin College's new basketball facility and looks really good.  Just wondering what everyone's opinion on best basketball facility in D3 is?

http://www.calvin.edu/building/details/project/arena

sac

This one's pretty nice.  Its going to host the women's final four in March.



http://www.hope.edu/pr/campusdev/devos.html

When VanNoord is completed, theres little doubt Hope and Calvin will have two of the nicest facilities in Division 3.  They've definately raised the bar. 

frank uible

Balance? A question for Calvin College: should Calvin, a self-declared primarily academic, liberal arts college, with an enrollment of 4200 and an endowment of approximately 70 million dollars be building a 35 million dollar athletic complex?

smedindy

It's part of their overall fundraising capital campaign, which also has a component for endowment growth. It's not just for sports teams, either. It's for the entire campus.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: smedindy on February 05, 2008, 06:06:38 PM
It's part of their overall fundraising capital campaign, which also has a component for endowment growth. It's not just for sports teams, either. It's for the entire campus.
This discussion about Calvin piqued my curiosity.

Calvin is #373 on the 2006 NACUBO list.  Their endowment grew by 19% from $69M to $82M in 2006.

I think that they need to add football.  ;)

Mr. Ypsi

Frank, I can't speak to the Calvin situation, but there is a reason that Hope's complex is the DeVos (and another contender, IWU, has the Shirk) - if someone comes along offering $millions for a sports center, unless you are the world's greatest salesman and can talk them into chem labs instead you build a sports center! ;)

And lest I leave a misconception about these generous donors or their schools, I'm pretty sure that the DeVos and Shirk foundations have both been quite generous to Hope and IWU in other ways as well.

Ralph Turner

Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?

In the Shirk Center?

Mr. Ypsi

Quote from: Ralph Turner on February 05, 2008, 07:16:30 PM
Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?

In the Shirk Center?

I'm sure Q would know, but I've been a Michigander for almost 38 years!

My commencement was NOT in Fred Young Fieldhouse (though I can't remember where; did I go ???).

Pat Coleman

Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Mr. Ypsi

Yeah, and even still have the paper to prove it. ;)  But in the Viet Nam era it was 'hip' to skip graduation as a protest.  After all the bucks my folks shelled out, I imagine I was there, but I honesty don't recall it (perhaps another remnant of the Viet Nam era??). :D

Though now that I think of it, I believe the last couple of weeks were canceled (after Kent State, and attendant brou-ha-has).  We may not have had an official graduation.  I just have no recollection.  (But I believe graduations in those days were generally in the chapel, not the fieldhouse.)

sac

#10
The City of Holland was takeing forever and a century to decide where to build, how much to spend, and how many ice rinks to have for a new community building which would undoubtedly have been Hope's new basketball home.  On the day the city was finaly to decide what to spend and where, Hope stepped in and said they'd received a donation and were going to build they're own on campus facility.  I am certain to this day, if that did not happen we would still not have a new facility in Holland.

Hope received a $7.5 million donation from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation as seed money for a new arena.  It was up to Hope to raise the rest of the funds to meet the $15 million cost, and that grew to around $22 million with some additions to the original concept.

Hope used a fund raising effort (called the Hope Legacy Fund I believe, or some other fancy name) to raise money for this project along with 2 other on campus academic buildings, which were both built first.  Hope's Martha Miller Center for Global Communications and a large addition the Peale Science Center named the Paul Schaap Science Center, essentially doubling its size.  Total cost of these two facilites was approximately $48 million dollars.

Martha Miller Center

Schaap Science Center


The goal of the fundraising was $70 million dollars, Hope ended up raising close to $140 million dollars, which has allowed the college to renovate other academic and athletic buildings on campus.  All have greatly enhanced Hope's academic and athletic facilities.


I do not know the makeup of Calvin's fundraising efforts, but I do know they've recently constructed new academic buildings at Calvin.  It would not surprise me to hear Calvin raised a great deal more money than anticipated for these projects.  The one common factor is the Richard and Helan DeVos Foundation made significant contributions to both colleges as a starting off point. 

As far as athletics, while Hope and Calvin have exceptionally good athletic facilities vs their MIAA counterparts they are rather average when compared to other D3 colleges that I've visited.  Both colleges needed these upgrades very badly and the biggest benefactor is the students.

Greek Tragedy

Are we talking best basketball facility or best atmosphere?
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iwumichigander

Quote from: Ralph Turner on February 05, 2008, 07:16:30 PM
Mr Ypsi, where does IWU hold its commencements?

In the Shirk Center?
IWU holds commencement on the Eckley Quadrangle  - "The ceremony is outdoors even in a light rain or cool temperatures and we encourage you to prepare appropriately.  In the event of heavy rains or weather alerts, we will relocate the ceremony and reception to the Shirk Center on campus. "

sac


realist

#14
Calvin has held graduation in the fieldhouse, and plans are to continue doing so in the new facility.  The new fieldhouse is 500 seats larger, and has a/c.  The fieldhouse is designed as multi use., and I think Calvin was going for practical use more than palace.  The fund raising campaign is for something like 160 million, and includes the new fieldhouse, new swim arena, indoor couts for tennis or soceer, and a restructuring/remodeling of the currrent fieldhouse.  Also in the plan endowment funds, scholarship funds, renovate the fine Arts Center, renovate enlarge Commons building/Bookstore,  so it involves much more than just athletics.  Calvin for years did not do much in the way of fund raising or endowments so part of this is really playing catchup for them.  Sac is correct that Calvin and Hope share some donors in common. 
"If you are catching flack it means you are over the target".  Brietbart.