Under its “health, wellness, and athletics restoration expansion initiative,” Wittenberg University decided to add a new multipurpose recreational facility to its campus.

Wittenberg University is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III school, located in Springfield, Ohio. This new, 130,000+ square foot, multipurpose facility creates a space for the university’s academic programs and its 24 intercollegiate teams and 14 club teams.

• 300-meter, six-lane track; with an eight-lane straight away
• 100-yard artificial turf football and lacrosse field
• Strength and conditioning center
• Outdoor sports lobby entrance
• Drop-down netting that subdivides the facility into spaces for baseball, batting cages, golf, and track events
• High-efficiency LED lighting fixtures
• Energy-efficient radiant flooring
• Press Box, replacing the existing structure, that houses concessions, gathering and press space, coaches’ boxes, and video facilities

The new indoor multipurpose recreational facility is situated directly north of and connected to the Health and Physical Education Recreational Center (HPERC), adjacent to the existing football stadium.

Originally built in 1929, the historic HPERC is also receiving interior and exterior upgrades as part of the university’s health, wellness, and athletic initiative.

Within the interior of the HPERC, repurposed space includes technology-enabled classroom space for the university’s new Exercise Science Program, fieldhouse, updated locker room facilities, alumni and recruiting lounges, special events space and new court surfaces for tennis, volleyball and basketball.

As with many large university projects, funding the project becomes a concern. The team was able to obtain federal and state historic tax credits, which then aided in fundraising efforts.

Wittenberg was awarded federal historic tax incentives from the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program administered by the National Park Service and Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Many of the funds raised for the new facility have come through donations from alumni and friends. Options for the total scope of the project were developed based on estimated fundraising, making sure the project was within the anticipated budget.

Visit Wittenberg’s Health, Wellness, & Athletics Restoration Expansion Initiative website for project progress photos.

Wittenberg’s multipurpose indoor recreational facility groundbreaking was held on March 24, 2017, and was opened in October 2019.