On Friday April 28th, Blackburn College held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Indoor Practice Facility to be constructed on campus. The ceremony was attended by over 150 student-athletes, alumni, donors as well as Blackburn faculty and staff members. The facility will be over 40,000 square feet and boast a 200' X 120' turf area for practice space for six sports, intramural activities, and physical education classes. There will be a golf performance center with two top of the line simulators and a practice green for chipping and putting along with locker space.
Sports that will have locker rooms in the facility include: Baseball, Softball, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Men's Wrestling and Women's Wrestling to go along with men's and women's golf. The structure will also house an athletic training room, coaches offices, a lobby to meet with recruits, public restrooms, storage space and an area for concessions.
Within the turf area which will be surrounded on the sides and ceiling by netting, there will be four batting cages that drop down from the ceiling for baseball and softball. A regulation softball infield and a near regulation baseball infield. A center curtain will allow for multiple team practices or activities. Wrestling will also call this their practice home as the mats will be able to be brought into the area. There will also be two outdoor covered batting cages to provide additional practice space if the indoor facility is fully in use.
The facility is made possible by a grant from the state of Illinois to go along with the fundraising campaign "Winning Together." The goal for the campaign is $7.7 million dollars and will include upgrades to Dawes Gymnasium as well.
UPDATED CONSTRUCTION PICTURE (9/26/23)
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There will be a variety of naming opportunities within the new facility, for more information or the desire to contribute to the Winning Together Campaign, contact Glen Krupica the campaign manager at glen.krupica@blackburn.edu or by phone at (217) 313-7736.
"This is such an exciting time for Blackburn Athletics as this facility will be unique to Blackburn especially due to vast size of the indoor turf area. Our student-athletes as well as the entire student body will be able to utilize an incredible space during periods of inclement weather," said Blackburn Interim Athletic Director Mike Neal.