Calvin Ground Breaking This Week

April 30, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Calvin College will celebrate groundbreaking and the formal
beginnings of its new arena, pool and more this week Friday, May 4 at 3 pm.

Full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/spoelhof-fieldhouse.htm
 
The biggest building project in Calvin history will officially start on May 4
at 3 pm when the college hosts a celebratory ceremony to mark the formal
beginnings of the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.

The upcoming expansion will include a new arena, a new aquatic center, a new
indoor track and tennis center and a significant renovation of the existing
Calvin Fieldhouse (the latter also includes building a new student health
center within the facility as part of the renovation). The first phase is
scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2008, and the entire project by the
end of 2009.

The event will take place in the current Calvin Fieldhouse and special guests
such as Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell and MIAA commissioner Dave Neilson
will participate in the program along with Calvin athletic director Nancy
Meyer, college president Gaylen Byker, the Calvin Pep Band and several of the
project's major donors.

One of those donors is John Spoelhof who with his wife Judy made a lead gift
to the project which as a result will be called the Spoelhof Fieldhouse
Complex.

The new arena at Calvin will be called VanNoord Arena in honor of Andrew and
Gladys VanNoord, while the new aquatic center at Calvin will be named the
Venema Aquatic Center in recognition of a gift from Calvin alumna Thelma
Venema.

The renovation of the existing Calvin Fieldhouse will be a significant effort
and will create both a new health and recreation center and a new student
health center within the renovated facility. The retooled fieldhouse will be
renamed the Hoogenboom Health and Recreation Center, while the new student
health center will be named Marian Hoogenboom Health Services. Both names
recognize significant financial support for the project from Terry Hoogenboom,
a Goshen, Indiana-based builder and real estate developer whose wife Marian
died of cancer.

The other lead donor to the overall expansion project at Calvin is the Grand
Rapids-based Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation.

-end-
Received on Mon Apr 30 12:01:18 2007