After several years of planning, work on the center at St ThomasUniversity in Minnesota will finally take off in May 2009 once the graduation ceremonies are out the way.

Father Dennis Dease, president of St. Thomas, says, “Our athletic facilities, some dating to the 1930s and last upgraded in 1981, were adequate for a much smaller student body. However, our facilities simply have not kept pace with our growth or the kinds of facilities now found at other Minnesota colleges.” 

The 180,000 square foot athletic complex will incorporate green elements including restricted-flow showers, low-volume toilets, automated and low-energy use lighting, high-efficiency pumps and motors, increased exterior insulation and light color roofing to reduce cooling needs in summer. 

The 180,000-square-foot Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex will be located east of St. Thomas’ football stadium and on the existing (and a larger) footprint of Schoenecker Arena, Coughlan Field House and Foley Theater, all of which will be razed. 

The complex will have an aquatic center on the Foley Theater site and will comprise a 25-yard, eight-lane swimming pool and spectator seating for varsity competitions. The Coughlan Field House site will see a new field house with a 200-meter track. On the existing Schoenecker Arena site, a volleyball and basketball arena with 2,000 seating capacity will be built. The west wing of the facility will feature aerobics rooms, weight room and fitness center on the first floor and labs, classrooms and offices on the second and third floors. 

The athletic and recreation complex, a 725-car parking facility that opened this month, and the proposed student center will all be named for Lee and Penny Anderson, who made a $60 million gift for the three projects. About $365 million has been raised for the construction project to date, the most raised by a private college or university in state history. 

A proposal to construct a $66 million, 240,000-square foot student center on the Cretin-Summit parking lot has been submitted to the University board.

Construction work on the complex will commence in late May 2009 and the facility will become operational in fall 2010.