October 14, 2005
Purdue serves up its first indoor tennis center
|
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University on Friday (Oct. 14) celebrated the groundbreaking on its first indoor tennis center.
The 60,000-square-foot facility, with six indoor courts and six outdoor courts, includes locker facilities for the teams, offices, a pro shop and seating areas for fans. It has been named the Dennis J. and Mary Lou Schwartz Tennis Center in honor of the lead donor. Dennis Schwartz pledged nearly half the money needed for the $7.2 million facility in the memory of his late wife.
"We are extremely grateful to the Schwartz family and other people who contributed to the fund-raising effort for this dynamic new center," said Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. "It will give a tremendous boost to Purdue tennis and will help the program attract top-caliber student-athletes."
|
Additional funding for the tennis center was provided by a gift from Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union. PEFCU gave $500,000 to Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics to be split between tennis and the new Tom Spurgeon Golf Center, which was dedicated Oct. 1.
John and Connie Basham of Lafayette also gave $500,000 for the tennis center. The facility's indoor courts will bear their names. The Bashams own Basham Rentals, which leases apartments primarily to Purdue students. John Basham is retired from Eli Lilly and Co. and is a director of Lafayette Community Bank. Connie Basham served on the Tippecanoe County Council from 1997 to 2004 and in 2004 ran for state representative.
The facility will be located immediately south of the Varsity Soccer Complex, near the corner of McCormick Avenue and Cherry Lane.
The courts will be open for rental by the public when they are not in use by the men's and women's tennis teams.
The new facility couldn't come at a better time for Purdue tennis, said athletics director Morgan Burke.
"Both men's and women's tennis at Purdue have established coaches with great reputations in the Big Ten conference and beyond," Burke said. "The Schwartz family has given us the opportunity to build a facility to match that talent."
Schwartz, from Mishawaka, Ind., graduated from Purdue in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. He is a retired banking executive and is active in the Elkhart, Ind., family business, Dehco/Cast Products/TriStart Distributing, a company that distributes products for recreational vehicles, manufactured housing, Marine and specialty automotive markets. Schwartz said his wife, who died in 2002, was an avid tennis player.
"Tennis was something that was meaningful to my wife, and she would be proud to be associated with Purdue's center for the sport that she loved," Schwartz said. "This was our way to give back to the community in a tangible way that also would reflect on her talents and love of tennis and Purdue."
That love of Purdue, he said, also was passed down to their son, Jim Schwartz, who runs the Dehco companies and lives with his wife, Julie, and two children in Granger, Ind. Jim Schwartz graduated from Purdue in 1988 with a business administration and management degree.
Tim Madden, who has been the Purdue men's tennis coach for 12 years, said the new center will give the tennis program a competitive edge, in part because athletes won't have to commute across town to use indoor courts when the weather is bad. Purdue's existing facilities consist of six outdoor varsity courts located off Third Street adjacent to Purdue's Recreational Sports Center and a rental agreement with an indoor recreation center in Lafayette.
"We're very appreciative of the Lafayette Sports Center for providing us with a great facility up until now," Madden said. "Having an indoor center on campus will help us develop a team identity that will attract top candidates. Recruiting is so competitive now that if everything else is equal, the type of facility we can offer can be a big part of the decision to come to Purdue."
Purdue women's tennis coach Mat Iandolo said the new center will be a strong recruiting tool and will allow coaches to attract a higher level of talent.
"You can't look at any one thing as a magic bullet, but this facility gives us another tool to move our program into the top 25 in the country," Iandolo said. "This will give us a major edge as we work our way up the national rankings."
The facility is expected to open in December of 2006.
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Sources: Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708
Greg Christopher, associate athletics director for external relations, (765) 494-3965, gchristopher@purdue.edu
Tim Madden, (765) 494-1647, madden@purdue.edu
Mat Iandolo, (765) 494-7783, miandolo@purdue.edu
Morgan Burke, (765) 494-3189, mjb@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web Sites:
Purdue Campaign News Page
To the News Service home page