Concordia Magazine

Bricks, Turf and Asphalt: Bringing the Update the Jake to Completion

By Amy E. Kelly

With a bird’s eye view from above, Dr. Larry Papenfuss watched from the press box as head coach Terry Horan and the football team ran onto the vibrant green field to play their first game on the new artificial turf in fall 2010. Papenfuss, the athletic director at the time, was wowed by how nice the FieldTurf looked. To the south of the stadium, the baseball field was also agleam with artificial turf. New asphalt parking lots would soon flank the fields. These were the rewards of completing the first two phases of the Update the Jake project. The college has moved to phase three of the $5.6 million project, a $2.9 million locker room facility.

“The locker room is, in some ways, a second home to student-athletes because that’s where they spend a lot of time with their teammates,” says Rich Glas, current athletic director. “You want to have a nice spot for them.”

The old locker room, which will now be utilized by men’s soccer and visiting teams, had around 70 lockers. That wasn’t enough for the current football team and visiting teams for a home game or all the new spring and fall sports that have been added since the complex was built. The new approximately 10,000-square-foot facility includes a room with 140 lockers for the football team and a 40-locker women’s soccer space. It will also include a Hall of Legends, coaches’ offices, a laundry facility and a training room. More than 400 people have contributed to the project, a testament to the alumni who are loyal to a program that has made a significant impact, Papenfuss and Glas say.

“So many of our alumni have been generous with their gifts to make this happen, and it is greatly appreciated by our coaching staff and student-athletes,” Glas says.

Artist's rendering of the new locker room facility. Much of the project funding has come from families with an athletic legacy at the college. Others have given in honor of favorite coaches or standout athletes who have passed on. Papenfuss, now the director of external relations for Advancement, takes great pleasure in seeing alumni reconnect with the college through this project.

“People give where their hearts are. To see what it means for people to be able to give of themselves to benefit the college and the change it makes in them is wonderful,” Papenfuss says. “What I see as my calling in Advancement is to help people feel good about what they are able to do to benefit others. This is one of those instances.”

This new front door to Eighth Street is scheduled for completion the beginning of 2014 and its inaugural football season has special meaning for many alumni – it will be the 50th anniversary for the 1964 National Champion Football team.  

Photo: Sheldon Green

Teams will soon have a new locker room facility (see artist's rendering above) called The Wayne and Beverly Thorson Athletic Center featuring the Sanford Health Athletic Training Facility.

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