Elon University trustees gathered with Phoenix athletics fans and many other friends of the university to dedicate Alumni Field House on April 16. The 30,000-square-foot facility at the north end of Rhodes Stadium in the North Athletics Complex serves as the headquarters for Elon’s sports programs.
With a driving rainstorm raging outside, the crowded gathered in the large second floor team meeting room to celebrate the new building, which opened last January.
“This is a facility that will touch all of our student-athletes,” said Dave Blank, Elon’s athletics director. “This building is a vehicle for us to get to where we want to be in Division I athletics.”
Blank said Alumni Field House is already having a tremendous impact on recruiting student-athletes, and that thought was echoed by Elon trustee Jay Hendrickson ’71, who made a $1 million gift along with his wife Amy Hendrickson ’69 to name the building’s Hendrickson Football Center.
“It is fun to walk through this building and look at the faces,” Jay Hendrickson said. “You can see the light in the eyes of the athletes.”
Hendrickson also said he feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to honor his father and mother with his family’s gift. Jay’s father, Horace J. Hendrickson, was one of Elon’s all-time great coaches.
The second floor of the building includes the Walker Room and Terrace overlooking Rhodes Stadium, in recognition of a gift from alumnus and trustee Zac Walker ’60 and his wife, Dot, of Raleigh, N.C. They made a $500,000 gift in honor of Zac’s father, Zachary T. Walker Jr., a member of Elon’s Sports Hall of Fame, and Zac’s uncle, D.C. “Peahead” Walker, another of Elon’s all-time great coaches. Walker spoke at a luncheon that preceded the dedication ceremonies and noted his long family ties to the university.
“This feels like a family affair,” said President Leo M. Lambert in his remarks. “What is amazing is the generations represented from various families. That’s what is special about this building. It was constructed by families who have loved this place for a very long time.”
Alumni Field House includes a spacious football locker room with cherry wood cabinets, a state-of-the-art training room with a hydrotherapy room, a huge strength and conditioning room, a large team meeting room, conference rooms and space for student athletes to study. It also provides offices for the athletics director and coaches in the football, baseball, soccer, cross country, and track and field programs, as well as other athletics staff.