CONWAY, Ark. (Sept. 5, 2007) – Demolition of Hendrix College’s 45-year-old Grove Gymnasium began Wednesday, just days after the college opened its new $23 million Wellness and Athletics Center. Hendrix plans to build a state-of-the-art Student and Technology Center on the site where Grove presently sits.
Grove Gymnasium, dedicated on Oct. 12, 1961 in front of an audience of more than 1,500 people, was named after long-time Hendrix coach Ivan Grove. The facility has been the home to Hendrix’s intercollegiate basketball, volleyball and swimming teams, having been a part of historic Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) championships and a transition to NCAA Division III athletic classification. It originally cost $750,000 to construct.
In addition to serving the Hendrix campus community, Grove has served the greater Conway community in many capacities through the decades, from the annual Warrior Basketball Camp for young girls and boys to the Hendrix AquaKids Swim Club, a competitive swim team for children. For more than 40 years, Grove was host to the annual Hendrix Swim Classic, the annual Hendrix Relays swim meet and the Hendrix High School Invitational swim meet.
Demolition began at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday – A steady rainstorm in the area did not deter the demolition. Several students came to the site to watch the demolition despite the early hour and the weather conditions.
The $23 million WAC includes an indoor track, four indoor tennis courts, a gymnasium and special events center, an indoor soccer court, a 26-foot-high climbing wall, an aquatic center with an 8-lane competitive swimming pool, a diving pool, a sun porch and a retractable roof; and a state-of-the-art fitness center with treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary bicycles equipped with internet access, free weights, and other fitness components.
The WAC is located in the heart of Hendrix’s athletic facilities, which include a new artificial turf field for lacrosse and field hockey, a softball and baseball complex, tennis courts and the existing soccer facility. The athletics area is located adjacent to the planned Village at Hendrix, a multi-use area that will include residential and commercial elements east of Harkrider.
The new building will be officially dedicated on Thursday, Sept. 27 during a convocation event inside the facility’s competition gymnasium. Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley will be the guest speaker for the event.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu, or contact Mark Scott at scottm@hendrix.edu or 501-450-1462.