‘An act of faith’

A new $25 million, 6,000-seat sports arena and fitness center is the headliner for a group of campus improvements set to appear at Samford University over the course of the next two years, Samford trustees announced April 14.
   
More than a year after unveiling plans for $200 million worth of advancements, the university released concrete details of what the first major phase of its proposal will look like — more than $50 million in campus improvements. 
   
In addition to the new on-campus arena and fitness center, projects will include a new recital hall, improved heating and air conditioning systems, additional parking lots and a four-story parking deck. 
   
Bill Stevens, chairman of the Samford board of trustees, called the steps “very bold initiatives” in accomplishing “The Promise for All Generations,” Samford’s multimillion-dollar plan for the future.
   
“Not since the campus was moved from Eastlake to Homewood in the mid-1950s has our board made this kind of courageous commitment to the future,” Stevens said. “This is a historic day for Samford University.”
   
According to Stevens, the new arena and fitness center will be constructed where the tennis courts are currently located. It will play host to athletic events and fitness facilities, as well as giving the institution the seating capacity to bring commencement services back on campus beginning in 2007.
   
“This is not ‘pie-in-the-sky’ reserved for some future date,” Stevens said. “We already have architects drawing right now, and we hope to begin construction on this facility by September.”
   
Tucked into this wellness project will be the refurbishing of Seibert Gymnasium, made possible by the gifts of Stephen F. Seibert and Wendy Seibert Walker, two of the grandchildren of F. Page Seibert, a pharmacist who provided critical funds to initially construct the gym.
   
Stevens said he hopes the updates will encourage students to “develop lifetime fitness habits” and that Samford can attract more outstanding scholar-athletes.
   
The tennis courts will be relocated this summer to the football practice field, and the football team will both play and practice at Seibert Stadium. To accommodate this move, the stadium will be landscaped with artificial turf.
   
Also in mid-summer Samford plans to begin work on a four-story parking deck adjacent to the Wright Center, as well as 300 additional parking spaces in an area parallel to Lakeshore Drive and between Lakeshore, Seibert Stadium and the softball field. The new lots carry a price tag of $3 million,  while the parking deck project is still out for bid, Stevens said.
   
Of the remaining projected funding, $7 million will go to the proposed instrumental music and recital hall, which will be completed one year after groundbreaking in mid-2005.
   
Another $10 million will fund the second phase of the renewal of the Ralph W. Beeson University Center, and $12 million will cover a campus-wide improvement of the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, beginning with Robinson Hall, home of Cumberland School of Law.
   
University trustees recognize that “national attention has come to Samford in recent years, and [they] desire to maintain the momentum,” Stevens said.
The publicizing of the blueprints initiated a building project that could span the next decade — and longer. 
   
“We want to make these important projects happen, but every one of them has a price tag. ‘Business as usual’ will not support this kind of major effort,” Stevens said. “These sorts of good things can happen only if we all dig deep and give aggressively, believing in the importance of Samford to our state and our nation.”
   
Samford President Thomas E. Corts, who announced his retirement April 14, said he will not lose momentum during his last year at Samford in his effort to secure the resources for the projects he helped put into motion.
   
“So many things were done in Samford’s history as an act of faith when there was not sufficient cash on hand,” Corts said. “Nevertheless, they decided to do it and do it right.”
   
God always provided the funds, he said, and Samford’s excellent buildings and beautiful campus are a testimony to that.
   
Corts is now blazing the way for the new project by vigorously seeking funds for the institution’s major financial campaign, which goes into effect immediately.
   
“I want to get it done the best I can so that the next person will pick up and go right on,” Corts said.
   
Future phases will include more building projects, multimillion-dollar increases in the scholarship pool, promotion to increase enrollment and various other improvements.