New Huizenga Center at Calvin Nears Opening

July 15, 2008 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: A new $6 million indoor tennis and track center at Calvin College will open next month, the first completed component in the college's $50 million Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.

Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/2007-08/huizenga-center/

In late August 2008, Calvin College will open for limited use its new Huizenga Tennis and Track Center, the first completed component of the college's $50 million re-envisioned athletic facility: the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.

Glen Van Andel, who retired from the Calvin department of health, physical education, recreation, dance and sport (HPERDS) this past year, leads the committee planning the fieldhouse complex. He said the Huizenga Center will make a critical contribution to changing the recreational culture on Calvin's campus.

The $6 million tennis and track venue will house a 200-meter wrapping around four competition tennis courts. The facility will also feature two long jump pits and two pole vault boxes or pits.

"Prior to this, we've not had a facility where students can jog and train indoors," said Van Andel.

That will be an advantage, said Van Andel, when the weather turns less than clement.

"During the long winters, the center will provide a place for students and others to practice their skills without the handicap of bad weather," he said.

Both the track and the tennis courts will be surfaced with Beynon BSS 1000 Sport Surface, a rubberized material, which will be installed in late December or January. Until then, Calvin volleyball and basketball teams will be running, jumping, volleying and shooting on portable basketball floors. The facility will also be used for core classes prior to the installation of the permanent floor.

Two other components of the fieldhouse complex, the Van Noord Arena and Fitness Center and the Venema Aquatic Center, are scheduled to open in the first week of January 2009.

Though the new facility will have multiple uses and benefits, the lead donor on the center, Marian Huizenga, was particularly attracted to one aspect of the project, said senior associate to the president Bob Berkhof.

"The story of bringing together Marian Huizenga and the tennis and track center is a special one," said Berkhof. "When we were talking to her about contributing to the Campaign for Calvin College, she mentioned that she had met her husband Clarence, who is now deceased, on a tennis court on the old Franklin campus. Because her husband really loved the game of tennis, Marian liked the idea of naming the facility in his honor."

-end-
Received on Tue Jul 15 09:54:40 2008