SLU Announces $20 Million Facility for Athletics
Date Posted: October 19, 2021
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis University is announcing a major facilities addition to the Chaifetz Arena complex this afternoon to be called the O’Loughlin Family Champions Center.
Bob O’Loughlin, chairman and CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management, is one of the lead benefactors.
The new construction will be privately funded at a cost of about $20 million and will be at the northwest end of Chaifetz between the arena and baseball and softball stadiums.
“It’s going to give us a shot to compete and to be nationally elite,” athletics director Chris May said Tuesday afternoon. “We want to be the best, and this is a shot in the arm for all coaches and athletes.”
The building is a multi-purpose facility for all athletes with a team dining area, nutrition center, student success suite, technology suite and offices for basketball and soccer, among other things.
Ground will be broken next spring with completion expected in spring 2023.
May said the first discussion of the facility came seven years ago. Basketball coach Travis Ford said he was first told about the plan by May about four years ago and now anticipates using renderings in recruiting.
“It was his vision and now it’s real,” Ford said. “It’s a statement that shows the commitment the university has to all student-athletes. This is going to benefit everybody and makes a commitment to our recruits to say we can compete with anybody.”