KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Eddie Lynch Pavillion, sits under construction on the north side of the McKale Center yesterday. The new pavillion will hold upgraded facilities for UA's student-athletes, and should be open by January 2002.

Friday August 24, 2001 |

State-of-the-art additions muscle up McKale

Building and maintaining an elite athletic department or athlete requires a commitment to progress and changing with the times.

That's what UA athletic officials had in mind when they decided to break ground for a new state-of-the-art strength and conditioning center to be added on to the north side of the McKale Center.

"(We're doing this) to stay abreast with the competition," said John Perrin, associate director of athletics for business affairs. "We needed to bring new efficiency to our training program. Our athletes will be able to train in the best facilities."

Perrin described the new center as an important step in keeping Arizona athletics an elite program.

"It's a major upgrade," Perrin said. "It's state-of-the-art strength and conditioning in all respects. Better treatment and better training equipment will help our athletes."

Director of Football Operations Dan Berezowitz said that it was time for a new facility.

"The training rooms now are too small to handle all of our athletes," Berezowitz said.

The current weight room and training area was built when the McKale center was erected in 1973 to accommodate the roughly 200 student athletes at the UA. Today nearly 550 student-athletes train in McKale, far too many for the present space, Berezowitz said.

"(It's) time to increase the size," Berezowitz said. "The new facility will give our strength staff a chance to train more teams at once."

Softball coach Mike Candrea said he is excited about the improved conditions his team will train under.

"I think it's great," Candrea said. "It will be great for the entire department. We are excited to move into the new facility that will allow more teams to train at the same time."

The $13.5 million addition, dubbed the Eddie Lynch Pavilion, was set in motion last year to enable UA athletes to have the best possible training accommodations. The new features include a running track, the most up-to-date training equipment and a medical center that Berezowitz described as "second to none."

Perrin said the money used to fund the upgrade was provided by private donors, so an increase in ticket prices wasn't necessitated.

"We launched the campaign 18 months ago," Perrin said. "The money we raised was $13.5 million entirely from private donors."

KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat

The new scoreboard above Lute and Bobbi Olson Court in the McKale Center will be ready by early September. It cost $2.4 million to build, and the athletic department expects for the scoreboard to pay for itself within three years.

While the financial end of the project is coming along smoothly, the budgeted amount of time to complete the project has been compromised.

"We were hoping to be in by Sept. 1," Perrin said. "But we won't be able to move in until January because of weather, primarily."

Perrin said he was sure the new complex will be worth the wait - not only for athletes but for students as well.

"The heritage center is going to be a wonderful display for everyone," Perrin said. "We will all be able to enjoy it. Having the state-of-the-art facility will help us stay competitive and that will benefit the students as well."

Perrin said that the top floor of the Eddie Lynch Pavilion will be the "Jim Click Hall of Fame," featuring photographs and other memorabilia relating to Arizona athletics in interactive kiosks scattered throughout the heritage center.

Wildcat fans will notice a change in the way they view the game as well. A new $2.4 million scoreboard is being introduced to McKale.

"The (current) system is 12 years old," Perrin said. "At the time it was state-of-the-art, but now it is obsolete."

Perrin said that the cost of the scorekeeping system will be absorbed by advertising capabilities featured on the system.

"We are financing it over five years," Perrin said. "It will be paid for by the revenue gained from advertisements."

The new scoreboard will generate a profit of $120,000 each year because of the advertisements, Perrin noted.

The scoreboard is about 80 percent complete according to the athletic department, and is expected to be ready for the first home volleyball match in September.