4 minute read
Building begins
Rendering of the new Bethany Activity and Wellness Center.
BY LANCE SCHWARTZ • CHIEF COMMUNICATION OFFICER
Activity and Wellness Center becoming reality
Construction has begun for a new Activity and Wellness Center on the Bethany Lutheran College campus. Groundbreaking for the Center took place at the construction site near the corner of Marsh and Division streets on November 9, 2021, while the Bethany Board of Regents was on campus for their quarterly meeting. The new building under construction is being called the Bethany Activity and Wellness Center. Site preparation and foundation work commenced in mid-November with construction continuing throughout 2022. The building is projected for completion in February 2023.
The 84,000 square foot facility will be utilized by the entire Bethany campus population providing much needed spaces for students, athletes, and educational and community events alike. The 68,000-square-foot Activity Center and 16,000-square-foot Wellness Center have been in the planning stages for several years, and when completed will be an asset for the entire campus community. The indoor recreational space features a six-lane running/walking track, jumping spaces, artificial turf infield, and drop down netting to divide the space for multiple user groups and purposes at the same time. A new fitness center will house a variety of exercise machines and equipment for the entire campus to use, as well as locker rooms and a 3,000-square-foot student lounge and event space. These new spaces will alleviate pressure on the overtaxed Sports and Fitness Center that was built nearly twenty-eight years ago in 1994.
“The remarkable new facility will provide a fourfold impact for Bethany. Students currently using our overcrowded recreational and study and lounge facilities will see immediate benefit. Likewise, with Bethany’s athletic programs doubling in size since the current facilities were built, teams will have new and additional practice space. Finally, the entire Mankato community and region will see new event and recreational space available for their use. We couldn’t be more excited to begin this project,” Bethany President Gene Pfeifer said.
Official groundbreaking was held on November 9, 2021.
Bethany is investing in this facility to not only support the growth of the student body, but to remain attractive to prospective students. The first four phases of the project are being funded by the $20 million dollar Building Bethany Campaign which has already garnered more than $14 million in funding. Additional fundraising and sponsorship opportunities are currently being sought through the College’s Advancement Office.
Art Westphal, Chair of the Building Bethany Campaign said, “I want to extend my most sincere thanks to the many supportive Bethany alumni, family, and friends who’ve helped to make this new construction a reality. We are thrilled to be building a facility that will be used by both today’s students and future generations of Bethany Vikings. We look forward to meeting with new partners to help us complete our fundraising efforts for the final phases of the campaign.”
The Activity and Wellness Center projects are part of a five-phase construction and renovation effort on the Bethany campus. The development saw the Bethany baseball team moving to ISG Field at the city-owned Franklin Rogers Park in 2019 (phase one) and the construction of a new turf soccer field on the Bethany campus in late 2019 (phase two). The Activity and Wellness Center together make up phases three and four, while the final phase will see the renovation of the Ron Younge Gymnasium in the College’s Sports and Fitness Center.
A new webcam has been added to the Bethany website that is focused on the new building from across the street. The camera allows viewers to see the progress and activity at the construction site.
Just days after groundbreaking, construction began and the area was quickly transformed from field (top) to pouring foundation and adding base layers of sand (below).
