By JENNIFER CARDEN

March 12, 2006

CONTACT:

David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 338-8727 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu

Earth movers are laying the groundwork for new Student Life Center.

With bulldozers rumbling and excavation underway, Patrick Henry College is one step closer to providing students a beautiful new hub of campus activity. With the blessing of Loudon County officials, workers began actual construction on the highly-anticipated Patrick Henry College Student Life Center on November 21st, 2006.
           
Designed as the social and recreational centerpiece of a growing student body, the 106,000 square-foot facility will include a 13,000-square-foot gymnasium, spacious dinning hall, bookstore and coffee lounge, indoor running track, first-class fitness space and racquetball courts, music practice rooms, classrooms, and faculty and staff offices. It will also hasten a reconfiguring of the dining hall and offices in Founders Hall, allowing the bottom-floor library to triple in size.

PHC Director of Admissions Rebekah Knable feels the Student Center will “put us on a level playing field with other colleges in terms of the kinds of facilities and amenities we provide our students,” and anticipates that the new structure will hold a great appeal for prospective students. 

“It will give them a quick snapshot into the student life at PHC and the kinds of activities they can look forward to as a student,” she says.  The students will particularly appreciate the lounge areas, where “students can sit down, grab a coffee, and meet with friends,” she says, adding that the extensive fitness facilities will allow for “expanded athletic involvement” and encourage the student community’s physical well-being.

Blake Hudson, PHC’s Vice President for Development, considers the Student Center a vital addition to the PHC campus, both as an amenity for current students and as a promise of future development. Yet, as with any debt-free project of its size, Hudson says that the Student Center will require a large financial commitment. The building’s cost is projected to be $27 million -- $10 million of which has already been pledged or given. 

“This will probably be the largest building ever built on the campus, and it is the largest capital project to date,” says Hudson.  “In order to fund the outstanding amount, we need gifts of all sizes, but we will need some major gifts of $1 million to $5 million to see this project completed in a timely manner.”

Earl Hall, PHC’s VP for Campus Administration, has been a primary player in the construction planning efforts, names the two major obstacles to completion “weather and funding,” but hopes they will not prove an impediment to the process. “The project is a 20-month-long effort if all the needed funding is raised at a pace that meets or exceeds the pace of construction,” he says. “Right now, the completion target date is July 15, 2008.”

Regardless of the final timeline, PHC sophomore Rachel Blum is enjoying her first-hand perspective of the building’s evolution. “It's exciting to see the building equipment outside my window and to know that progress is being made,” she says. “The student center seems to symbolize the materialization of Patrick Henry’s desire for expansion - it's the kind of building that can become the center of a larger and more established college as time continues.”

BUILDING STUDENT LIFE CENTER “GOD’S WAY”

As the Student Center will be poised on a hill directly across from the standing residence halls, construction activities are taking place in the midst of campus life.  In order that the students and faculty do not miss an opportunity for ministry, Vice President for Operations & Infrastructure Earl Hall and Chaplain Raymond Bouchoc have entered into a partnership with Building God’s Way Ministries. 

Building God’s Way follows God’s blueprint through the Ministry of Construction—from the Nehemiah account to the major biblical themes of prayer, stewardship, relationships and outreach. PHC will be working specifically under a “Ministry of Construction” plan, which will encourage students and faculty to reach out to the construction workers on-site, via offers of refreshments, food, prayer, and other aid.