MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A brand new, dual-purpose, premium house and coaching desk named the Clark Mountaineer Membership has opened its doorways on the WVU Coliseum. The brand new house gives an unique premium expertise on Mountaineer basketball recreation days, whereas additionally serving as an athletic coaching desk all through the week for WVU student-athletes.
The world is called after Fred and Linda Clark and their household who gave a present of $3 million for the membership’s completion. Clark is a 1974 summa cum laude graduate of West Virginia College and obtained his juris doctorate from West Virginia College School of Regulation in 1977.
“My spouse, Linda, and I see the first significance of the Mountaineer Membership to be new service to our student-athletes as a coaching desk and potential scholar occasion middle that’s the first main addition to the Coliseum that I can bear in mind,” Clark stated. “I see our Coliseum to be an extension of the historical past and legacy of the WVU Discipline Home, and I’ve been going to video games and occasions on the Coliseum my whole grownup life.
“Now to have the ability to help WVU athletics normally and the present basketball groups led by coaches Josh Eilert and Mark Kellogg of their first seasons, with the brand new Clark Mountaineer Membership is just the most effective issues Linda and I’ve been capable of accomplish.”
The Clark Mountaineer Membership is positioned on the concourse degree of the WVU Coliseum between the Gold Gate and the Mountaineer Gate with its footprint extending onto the Coliseum apron.
“Fred and Linda Clark are nice Mountaineers and have at all times been supportive of our division. I can not thank them sufficient for having the imaginative and prescient to see how the brand new Membership will improve the Coliseum expertise and profit our student-athletes,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker stated. “The Clark Mountaineer Membership on the Coliseum is a recreation changer for our athletics division. Not solely will it reinforce our dietary dedication to our student-athletes, but additionally present further premium house on recreation days and for particular events.”
The renovations are a big, 7,200-square foot enlargement designed to serve a number of functions. They embrace amenities for every day coaching meals for WVU student-athletes, premium areas for pregame, in-game, and postgame experiences for Mountaineer Athletic Membership members and a banquet space that may accommodate greater than 300 individuals for varied occasions.
“On behalf of the WVU Basis, I need to lengthen a honest thanks to Fred, Linda and their household for this excellent reward that may have far reaching advantages,” stated Cindi Roth, Basis president and CEO. “The Clark Mountaineer Membership is not going to solely serve our student-athletes and trustworthy MAC supporters, however the neighborhood as nicely. It is a ravishing addition to the Coliseum and we could not be extra appreciative of the Clark’s generosity.”
The house gives distinct and numerous seating packages tailor-made to the completely different features it serves. The mission concerned renovating the present kitchen and concession space to considerably improve its cooking and preparation capability by greater than 150%. The coaching desk meals platforms had been expanded by greater than 200%, permitting for a greater diversity of high-performance meals for student-athletes.
A sophisticated audiovisual system within the house options giant video partitions, perimeter TV shows, a encompass sound speaker setup and wi-fi microphone techniques. Moreover, a brand new receiving and loading dock space was constructed to facilitate the environment friendly operation of the membership and to supply a direct hyperlink to the principle concourse of the Coliseum.
The outside of the enlargement utilized a metallic panel system and huge format blocks, designed to harmonize with earlier additions to the Coliseum. The design contains angled strains within the metallic panels close to the highest of two protruding sections as an homage to the distinctive folded roof strains of the constructing.
The power will open new doorways for athletics to generate further income all year long and function a first-class rental house for occasions.
The addition of the membership is the third premium membership house supplied contained in the WVU Coliseum, becoming a member of Membership 35 and the Statler Membership.
