More than 75% of $16 million goal for 60,000-square-foot building already raised

Bluffton University has raised more than 75 percent of its $16 million fundraising goal for construction of a Health and Fitness Education Center (HFEC).

Raising the remaining $3.8 million, so ground can be broken for the building, is the focus of the public phase of Extending Our Reach-The Campaign for Bluffton. University President Dr. James M. Harder launched that phase of the campaign-the largest single fundraising effort in Bluffton's history-during his annual President's Forum address on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Speaking in Founders Hall, Harder said Bluffton has already received $27 million in gifts and pledges to Extending Our Reach from alumni, friends, faculty and staff.

That figure includes more than $5.8 million in pledges to the Bluffton Fund-which supports annual operations and "significant parts" of the student financial aid program, he said-and more than $9 million to establish permanent endowments for student scholarships, faculty research grants and an endowed chair in theatre.

TO VIEW IMAGES OF THE CENTER CLICK HERE

"Beyond annual fund and endowment support," the president continued, "most comprehensive campaigns feature a significant building project, and Bluffton's is no exception."

A long-range master plan approved by the university's Board of Trustees in 2000 identified a new HFEC as the next campus building priority "and led to its inclusion as the largest component of the Extending Our Reach campaign," he said.

Designed by Sasaki and Associates, the same Cambridge, Mass., architectural firm that designed Bluffton's Centennial Hall academic center, the HFEC will be located just north of Marbeck Center and, at 60,000 square feet, will be the largest building on campus.

It will feature a competitive arena for basketball and volleyball-also large enough for two full-size practice courts-plus locker and team rooms; a sports medicine center; offices for coaches and Health, Fitness and Sport Science faculty; multipurpose classroom space; a walking/jogging track; and a weights and fitness center, "with a full selection of equipment for recreational users and varsity athletes alike," the president noted.

The center, he said, "will contribute much to our residential and community atmosphere, promote lifetime health and fitness, serve as a teaching facility and meet the needs of our indoor athletics program."

It will also be a state-of-the-art "green" facility, he added, saying the university is committed to the building earning a certification of "Silver" or better in the national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system. It will incorporate "a variety of energy management and water conservation strategies, recycled and 'green' building materials, and will serve as a model for environmental sustainability in collegiate facilities of its type," he maintained.

The center will be the third indoor athletics facility in Bluffton's 111-year history.

The first gymnasium, nicknamed "The Barn" because of its design, was built about 1916, "during the middle of a difficult time of tight resources and under the shadow of a world war," Harder pointed out. "Yet in true Bluffton fashion, faculty and students worked together to raise $950 and build from wood a steam-heated indoor athletics structure."

The Barn was home to Bluffton athletic events and larger gatherings for the next 35 years. "But as World War II ended, Bluffton's enrollment grew and more space was needed," leading to the construction of Founders Hall, which has hosted campus events since 1952, the president said.

Founders and its 1971 Burcky addition will continue to serve the university, "yet the need is clear and the time has come" for a "third-generation" facility, he added.

Bluffton's enrollment was 250 when Founders was built but, in recent years, the university's residential student population has approached 1,000. In addition, over time, women have gained equality of opportunity in college athletics, Harder said. "Both of these positive developments have placed additional scheduling pressure on Founders," he explained.

"Even with the Burcky addition, Bluffton today clearly lacks the indoor court and fitness training space we need for all of our competitive and recreational athletic activities, including our very popular intramurals program. This is particularly true during the winter months.

"The same pressures are felt by our growing academic programs within the Health, Fitness and Sport Science department, which must share this same court space for some of their necessary classroom activities."

The HFEC will address those issues as part of a campaign that will benefit Bluffton students "today, tomorrow and for future generations," Harder said. "Extending Our Reach is my highest priority," he asserted. "Together, we will achieve our campaign goals."

Also in his address, the president noted:

. New academic programs, in place and in development, to better meet society's needs and students' career interests. The university is now offering evening classes for working adults in the undergraduate social work program, as well as a health care management concentration in the master of business administration program. An undergraduate major in public health-one of only two in Ohio-will be introduced next fall and, in response to a national shortage of internship opportunities for professional dietetics certification, faculty in the foods and nutrition program are developing a yearlong, post-baccalaureate dietetics internship at Bluffton. The internship program, a partnership with regional health and elder care facilities, could enroll students as soon as 2012.

. Summer improvements to College Hall and Musselman Library. "Both buildings now have new entrances with elevators, to better meet the needs of all," he said, adding that College Hall also has new restrooms on each level of the building. In addition, a high-efficiency boiler system has been installed in College Hall, as have new ceiling light fixtures in the library, both as "green" improvements.

Also over the summer, the football/baseball locker complex in Founders Hall was expanded and refurbished-a less costly option than placing those facilities in the HFEC, the president pointed out-and The Commons in Marbeck Center was renovated. Going "green" as well, The Commons is now a trayless facility, in an effort to reduce food waste and water usage; serves more regionally sourced foods; offers only fair-trade coffee and tea; and recycles all used cooking oil and cardboard boxes.