WSU Pavilion Under Construction
10/6/2004 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
October 6, 2004
WSU Pavilion Under Construction
Having received final approval from the Wright State University Board of Trustees, construction has begun on a state-of-the-art men's and women's basketball facility named the Setzer Pavilion and Mills/Morgan Gymnasium. The three million dollar-plus facility, totally underwritten by fundraised donations, is named after Fred Setzer, Bob Mills and Sam Morgan.
"Fred was the first lead donor and has been the driving force in the fundraising campaign to construct this building," WSU Athletics Director Mike Cusack said. "Bob Mills is the builder and has continued his long history of support for our program. His partner, Sam Morgan, will share in the naming of the gymnasium."
While the major thrust of the facility is basketball, its impact will be program-wide. It will include a training center for the entire program which will evolve to remain state-of-the-art from year to year. The practice and dressing facility for the basketball programs will free up space to enable other programs to have better practice times and amenities. The overall effect will enhance the opportunities of our programs to compete regularly for conference titles and NCAA bids.
Situated across the street to the northwest side of the Nutter Center, the nearly 30,000 square foot facility will include a complete regulation gymnasium, film viewing rooms, state of the art weight training room, locker rooms, offices for the men's and women's basketball staffs and a display lobby dedicated to Raider athletics' history.
Men's coach Paul Biancardi reiterated that sentiment and talked about moving to the next level with this commitment.
"This facility will be the final piece among a number of resources made available to basketball that will enable us to move our program to the next level," Biancardi said. "A commitment of this kind elevates our stature to a point that would set us apart from our competition and allows us to operate in a first-class manner."
Women's coach Bridgett Williams holds similar feelings, pointing to the help the building would have on recruiting.
"A basketball training center of this magnitude will greatly enhance our recruiting efforts and provide our student-athletes with the best facilities in the conference," Williams said. "Coupled with the Nutter Center, we will now have practice and game facilities that will allow us to complete nationally."
An official groundbreaking will be scheduled later this month. Construction will take 6-8 months.
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