Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 21, 2001 Purdue names Ross-Ade media center, stadium club for donorWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The stadium club and working press area of the renovated Ross-Ade Stadium will be named for retired Greater Lafayette-area businessman Richard Shively, a Purdue University alumnus and Boilermaker backer for more than 60 years.
Morgan Burke, director of intercollegiate athletics, today (Friday, 9/21) made the announcement during the Old Gold and Black Dinner, an annual celebration of intercollegiate athletics for donors and friends. The Shively Media Center and Shively Stadium Club are two components of the four-story pavilion that will rise on the west side of the stadium, now undergoing a $70 million renovation. "Dick Shively is a longtime financial supporter of Boilermaker athletics," said Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. "He is donating another $2 million to the university's athletics program, bringing his lifetime contribution to $5 million. Many future generations of Boilermakers will benefit from, and be inspired by, his generosity."
The 11,000-square-foot stadium club on the second floor of the pavilion will offer amenities for purchasers of club seats, including lounge seating, dining tables, catered food and beverages, and a panoramic view of the stadium. The fourth-floor media center will provide seating for more than 200 reporters and will offer the latest in technology, including access to the World Wide Web. Current plans also call for moving the offices of the John Purdue Club and Intercollegiate Athletics marketing from Mackey Arena to the fourth floor of the pavilion.
Shively, now retired and residing with his wife, Dottie, in Santa Fe, N.M., graduated from the Purdue School of Science in 1941. "My love of Purdue and admiration for the athletics program are truly a part of me," said Shively, whose father, Clarence, was a member of the Class of 1915 and later an engineering professor. "It gives our family great pleasure to support this fine university. "The naming of the stadium club and the working media area for our family is a great honor." The new media center is expected to be operational by the start of the 2002 season, when Illinois State comes to Ross-Ade Stadium to take on the Boilermakers on Aug. 31. Demolition of the existing Robert C. Woodworth Memorial Press Box will begin shortly after the conclusion of this year's home football schedule on Dec. 1. The stadium club, outdoor and indoor club seats, and private suites will be completed by the start of the 2003 home season. When he was a child, Shively’s family lived in the former Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at the corner of Second and Russell streets. In the 1930s, his mother operated a restaurant in the house that served Boilermaker football players, among others. When Shively enrolled at Purdue in 1937, he went to work at radio station WBAA as a play-by-play announcer for Purdue football games. He later was a sportswriter for the Lafayette Journal and Courier. After graduation in 1941, Shively served in World War II in Annapolis, Md., and aboard a submarine chaser in the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, Shively worked in broadcasting in several cities before returning to Lafayette in 1969 and purchasing television station WFAM, which he renamed WLFI. Although Shively sold WLFI in 1978, the station, a CBS affiliate, remains in operation. The entire $70 million first phase of the Ross-Ade renovation, which includes an expanded concourse at the base of the stadium and all new seating areas within, will be completed by the start of the 2003 season. Although the renovation will expand the footprint of the 77-year-old stadium named for alumni David Ross and George Ade, the project will reduce seating by roughly 5,000. A second phase calls for erecting a 10,000-seat deck on the stadium's east side. Moving ahead with that phase and a potential third-phase deck north of the stadium will be determined by ticket demand. Writer: Jay Cooperider, (765) 494-3197 Sources: Morgan J. Burke, (765) 494-3189; mjburke@purdue.edu Richard Shively, (505) 989-4171, dickshively76@aol.com Related Web sites: PHOTO CAPTIONS: A publication-quality photograph is available at the News Service Web site and at the ftp site. Photo ID: Ross.Ade.Pressbox.jpeg
This is a view from the northwest of the four-story pavilion that will rise on the west side of Ross-Ade Stadium. The stadium club and working press area will be named for Richard Shively, a member of the Class of 1941 who contributed $2 million to intercollegiate athletics recently, bringing his lifetime support of athletics to $5 million. A publication-quality photograph is available at the News Service Web site and at the ftp site. Photo ID: Ross.Ade.Pavilion
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