Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun has provided in-depth coverage of this proposed expansion and renovation since it was first announced.
By the numbers
$17.1 million: Private donations secured so far for the project
$4.5 million: Amount of money awarded in state tax credits
$750,000: Amount of grant Wittenberg is seeking from CFA
$70 million: Wittenberg's estimated local economic impact annually
Wittenberg University received $4.5 million in state tax credits to restore its historic 1929 field house as part of an estimated $30.6 million expansion aimed at attracting more students and hosting more events in Springfield.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax credits were awarded by the Ohio Development Services Agency last week. The agency awarded $37.8 million in tax credits to 34 applicants planning to rehabilitate 55 historic buildings.
In addition to renovation of the 1929 field house and the 1982 Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Center, the university’s plan includes the construction of a new 125,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility attached to the north end of the HPER Center.
The tax credits are a huge step forward in Wittenberg’s fundraising efforts, said Athletic Director Gary Williams.
“It’s providing us access to monies that are going to help us defer the total amount of fundraising we’ll need to do from alumni,” Williams said. “Of many of the things that we looked at about funding sources, this was the most competitive. To get approval from the state of Ohio to move forward is a huge shot in the arm for the university and for Springfield.”
As part of the entire facility renovation, the field house will be restored, Williams said.
“We’re working hard to preserve the integrity of the history and tradition of the building,” he said.
The new facilities initiative is designed to increase student success and student retention, Williams said. The campus has about 600 athletes who play 24 varsity sports, he said.
The facility will also make Wittenberg more competitive with other private colleges that have similar facilities, including nearby Wilmington College, which built a similar indoor practice facility in recent years.
“We’re really working hard to find ways to keep our programs as competitive as possible,” Williams said. “In a lot of ways, this project will help us in terms of to elevating our facilities to the same levels that many of our programs compete at right now. We have very highly-functioning, nationally-competitive programs; we’ll now have a highly-functioning, competitive and prideful facility that will match that.”
The college has $21.6 million pledged for the project, including $17.1 million from private donors, Williams said.
“We’re now getting into the single-digit millions in terms of our final push for fundraising,” Williams said.
The college has also applied for federal tax credits and could receive up to $2 to $3 million, he said. Wittenberg could hear about those sometime early next year, Williams said.
“The fact that the state has approved the project and the fact that they’ve given their blessing really helps us,” he said.
A $2 million endowment is also being included in the plan to allow the facility to run smoothly in the future, Williams said.
Wittenberg has also asked the Clark County Convention Facilities Authority — a board designed to enhance local venues with tourism efforts — to pledge $750,000 to the project over the next three years. The board discussed the application last week, but the application is still on the table, said member Joan Elder.
The new center will house a 100-yard artificial turf for football, soccer and other sports and a 300-meter indoor track.
Other planned upgrades include:
• New weight room;
• Strength training and wellness center;
• Technology-enabled classroom spaces for programs like the school’s new Exercise Science major;
• Updated locker rooms and alumni/recruiting lounge;
• Special events spaces;
• Improvements to the football press box; and
• New court surfaces for tennis, volleyball and basketball courts.
Wittenberg could also convert some of its land along McCreight Avenue into parking.
The school has about 1,900 students, 475 employees and an operating budget of about $50 million. It currently brings about 3,500 visitors to Springfield each year with an estimated economic impact of $70 million annually, according to Wittenberg officials.
The funding is a major step forward in the process, said Clark County commissioner John Detrick, a 1964 Wittenberg University graduate.
“It’s preserving the old architecture and mixing it with the new, plus bringing a viable destination point for athletic teams to come here,” he said.
The new facility will have a major effect on the local economy, he said. Wittenberg is one of area’s top economic drivers with students living here, as well as parents visiting and attending athletic events here, he said.
“It’s very important for the community because of Wittenberg’s ripple effect,” Detrick said. “There are people in here every weekend for events at the field house.”
The tax credits are great news for athletes at the school, said sophomore volleyball player Maddie Fischer.
“It’s awesome keeping that tradition at Wittenberg,” said Fischer, a Minerva, Ohio, native.
She hopes to train at the new indoor facility before she graduates, but knows it will have an effect on Wittenberg for years to come.
“It’s going to bring in so much revenue to the school in so many ways,” Fischer said.
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