The Wood Center was filled with smiles, handshakes and applause Wednesday afternoon after it was announced that Elon received two separate gifts of $1 million that will go toward the expansion of the John Koury Field House.

Alumni Jay and Amy Hendrickson made a $1 million gift to name the new Hendrickson Football Center in honor of Jay’s father, Horace J. Hendrickson. Also, alumnus and trustee Zac Walker and his wife Dot, made a $500,000 gift to name the athletics director suite after Zac’s father, Zachary T. Walker Jr. and Zac’s uncle, D.C. “Peahead” Walker. In addition to the athletic director’ suite, the Walkers made another $500,000 gift to support scholarships in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

“This family’s (Hendricksons) commitment here goes back for generation,” University President Leo Lambert said. “They wanted to make their announcement this fall because they wanted to support the momentum that we can all feel happening for Elon football.”

“This is a family (Walkers) that also has generations of ties to Elon…. If you had to sum Zac Walker up in one word that word would be integrity,” Lambert said.

The expansions to the Koury Field House will be significant and is estimated to cost $6 to $7 million. When the facility is completed, the structure will be 30,000 square feet and three stories. It will provide more space for the soccer, football, baseball, track and field and cross country teams.

Also, the athletic department’s weight room will be moved there to go along with a new weight room and a new training facility that will be put in for all of Elon’s teams to use.

Athletics are not the only department that these gifts will help. Because the office suite for the athletics administration is also moving to the Koury Field House, the vacated space will give the exercise and sports science department space.

The new facility will have the biggest impact on recruiting, which Elon coaches are very excited about.

“It’s massive for recruiting,” said men’s soccer coach Darren Powell. “When potential recruits come they want to look at your locker rooms and facilities.”

“I’m more excited about my job today than I was two years ago when I got this job,” football head coach Pete Lembo said. “You can feel the enthusiasm surrounding the program right now.”

Elon wants to have the new Koury Field House completed and ready for use by the start of the 2010 football season, but there could be setbacks due to construction or financial delays.

“The university currently is conducting a silent phase of campaign for endowment,” athletics director Dave Blank said. “We do feel that we need to raise some other private funds, but we do not want this project to compete with the campus and we do not want the faculty to think that we’re setting priorities that are not the priority of the institution.”

When the new facility is completed it will house the locker rooms for more than 200 student athletes and will affect all of the 340 student athletes at Elon.

Sports Editor: Jeff Rickel - 12/05/07