Major Gift to Support IU Indoor Arena
(rendering courtesy Indiana University)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn Indiana University alumnus has provide a major gift in support of the university’s new indoor arena. Jay Wilkinson has given $10 million to help fund construction of the $17 million facility, which will serve as the new home for IU’s volleyball and wrestling.
IU has named the arena Wilkinson Hall in recognition of the gift. The 2,500- to 3,000-seat facility will be used as a competition facility for both sports, as well as a practice facility for Volleyball. The university says it will also close the distance between with the wrestling team’s practice space in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The venue will also serve as a multi-sport facility benefiting student-athletes in all 24 sports at IU and will be used to host department and university events. President Michael McRobbie says the facility will have an "enormous and positive impact" for all student-athletes and the student body as a whole.
"Consistent with the university’s master plan, this state-of-the-art, indoor, multipurpose arena will bring volleyball and wrestling back to the athletics campus, support year-round training for all of our students, and improve campus life with increased student fan accessibility for volleyball and wrestling matches," said McRobbie. "We are deeply grateful to Jay Wilkinson for this remarkable gift and for his longstanding support of IU’s student-athletes."
Wilkinson has previously made gifts to IU Athletics, including one supporting what was named the W. Jay and Nancy Wilkinson Performance Center on the north end zone of Memorial Stadium. He also endowed the Nancy Wilkinson Athletic Memorial Scholarship, in honor of his late wife, which provides a scholarship to at least one female varsity athlete each year.
"Indiana University and IU Athletics has meant a great deal to me and my family over the years," said Wilkinson. "We are pleased to be in a position to provide philanthropic support that benefits such deserving student-athletes now and in the future."
The IU Board of Trustees approved plans for the arena in April. The university did not specify a time frame for the beginning of construction.