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ORU Sports Complex on Schedule to Open in Spring '06

By Ginger Shepherd

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Click Photo to Enlarge Block by block, phase one of the complex is going up.

Click Photo to Enlarge Workmen made good progress in early November--before cold weather set in.

Click Photo to Enlarge Nothin' but blue skies... Things are looking up for the Golden Eagle sports teams.

Click Photo to Enlarge The complex will hug the right field foul line.

Click Photo to Enlarge Room with a view of ORU baseball.

Construction on the new Golden Eagle Sports Complex and baseball offices is moving along nicely as construction crews have already erected the outer walls.

Oral Roberts University is constructing a sports complex next to its baseball facilities. The complex will feature a strength and conditioning facility, new baseball offices, the Jim Brewer Champions Room, and eventually, an indoor practice field.

Construction of the sports complex is broken into two phases. The first phase is the new strength and conditioning building, the offices, and the Champions Room.

The strength and conditioning center will be approximately 2,400 square feet and will feature a state-of-the-art weight room for all ORU athletes. The baseball office will house four new offices, a receptions-secretarial area, work room, locker room, and a lounge; it will be 1,800 square feet.

As for the Jim Brewer Champions Room, it will be about 1,450 square feet, featuring a hospitality room for press conferences, meetings, and other game-day functions. It will also feature an exterior observation deck.

Work on the first phase is slated to be completed in early spring 2006, said Cris Belvin, director of Athletic Media Relations. Constructing the indoor practice facility is phase two and will begin when funding is completed.

Phase two will be completed "realistically, not until sometime in the 2007-08 academic year," Belvin said. The total sports complex is estimated to cost about $1.6 million.

The planned indoor practice facility will be 35,000 square feet with artificial turf and a baseball infield, and will have enough room for soccer and track and field teams to practice.

Unlike other universities in Oklahoma, ORU does not have to acquire any property for the sports complex. The facility is being built on university land--along the right field foul line of J.L. Johnson Stadium.

As Mike Carter, director of Athletics at ORU, points out, "The Golden Eagles' record-setting accomplishments in the Mid-Continent Conference have been achieved without the benefit of a varsity weight room or an indoor practice facility. In today's highly competitive environment of NCAA athletics, these new facilities are critical for recruiting quality student athletes and improving our program."

The new complex will also provide student-athletes with a better place to conduct weight training than the space they currently share with the general student body and classes at the Aerobics Center.

Carter said, "These facilities are being made possible through the generosity of private donors whose gifts are specifically restricted to this project. We are excited about this capital campaign because we believe it will create energy to open doors for funding other projects at ORU."