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First phase of LWC expansion to include addition to campus ministry center, health-and-wellness center and baseball-softball complexCOLUMBIA, Ky. - Lindsey Wilson College celebrated “one of the most exciting days” in the college’s 105-year history on Monday morning as more than 100 members of the campus and local community came together for three ground-breaking ceremonies.

The college broke ground on an addition to the Sumner Campus Ministry Center, a health-and-wellness center and a baseball-softball complex.

“Many colleges don’t celebrate three ground-breakings in a decade,” Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr. said before the first event.

The $12 million worth of projects that the college broke ground on Monday morning are the first phase of a larger expansion plan for Lindsey Wilson.

As Adair County businessman Danny Pyles said at the ground-breaking ceremony of the baseball-softball complex: “To watch Lindsey Wilson grow as it has in the last 15-20 years is absolutely amazing.”

Sumner Campus Ministry Center Expansion

The 4,000-square-foot addition to the 3-year-old Sumner Center will accommodate one of Lindsey Wilson’s fastest-growing undergraduate programs and also allow the college to expand its ministry to more students.

“This building gives us such potential to do all sorts of new things,” said LWC Chaplain Troy Elmore. “This is a college that honors God. We are very proud of the fact that we are church-related. Because we honor God, God honors us.”

Dean of the Chapel Terry Swan said the expansion - which will be completed during the 2008-09 school year - will be a “sacred space” on campus. He said the addition will allow the college to expand to three worship services a week and provide additional classroom space for the Christian ministries program. The addition can also be used as a practice and performing area, lecture hall or a site for conferences.

“It will be a continual reminder to all of us of our heritage and faith in Christ, which is the foundation of Lindsey Wilson College,” Swan said.

Lindsey Wilson’s Christian ministries program is the second largest undergraduate program at the college, and it is the “strongest Christian ministries program among our 122 schools, colleges and universities of The United Methodist Church,” Luckey said.

The expansion to the Sumner Center moves the college “one step closer to being the most church-related college in the United Methodist denomination,” Luckey said.

Health-and-Wellness Center

When it is opened in fall 2009, the health-and-wellness center will be the largest building on Lindsey Wilson’s A.P. White Campus.

The 73,223 square-foot-building - which is almost 75 percent larger than the Jim & Helen Lee Fugitte Science Center - “will be phenomenal and it will serve a tremendous need in this area,” Luckey said.

The center will include an indoor track, three basketball courts; an eight-lane pool; a rock-climbing wall; recreational areas; and rooms with cardiovascular equipment.

The center will be a place for the college and the community to lead healthier lives, and also a place where children will have the opportunity to learn how to swim, Luckey said.

“For years we have dreamed of this day - when we would break ground on a new state-of-the-art health-and-wellness center,” said Lindsey Wilson Vice President of Student Services & Enrollment Management Dean Adams. “The health-and-wellness center will be a place of learning and growing, a place where friendships will be formed and lives will be changed. … The new health-and-wellness center will allow us to expand our mission beyond the boundaries of our campus out into the community as well. … It will be a symbol of the college’s commitment to our student body, to this community and to this mission.”

Added Lindsey Wilson Student Government Association President Drew Sadler: “It really does show the dedication that Lindsey Wilson and all its supporters have for its students - to not just make sure that we have a healthy mind, but a healthy body as well. That’s where Lindsey Wilson shines.”

Athletic Complex

Most of the 20 acres of land adjacent to the Louie B. Nunn Parkway were made possible through a gift from Adair County businessmen Joe and Annabelle and Danny and Sandy Pyles.

“Today is the beginning of a new era in the life of Lindsey Wilson athletics,” said Lindsey Wilson Athletic Director Willis Pooler.

After the baseball and softball fields are dedicated next spring, college officials hope they will be followed by a multi-purpose outdoor stadium that will be the home of a football, marching band, and track and field programs.

But in the short-term, moving the baseball and softball fields adjacent to the Nunn Parkway will allow the college’s teams to play night home games, resulting in fewer scheduling conflicts.

“Through the generosity of Joe and Annabelle and Danny and Sandy Pyles, no longer will our young ladies be forced to share a facility with the little league park and both our men and women will miss far less class time with the addition of lighting on both of our fields,” Luckey said.

Joe Pyles said he and his son “had a dream” when they gave the land to Lindsey Wilson more than two years ago - to increase the visibility of the college by putting its name on the Nunn Parkway.

“It’s very touching to be a part of it,” he said.

Although unusual to have three ground-breaking ceremonies in one day, Lindsey Wilson junior Anna Catherine Hook of Louisville, Ky., summed up the mornings flurry of activities when she said at the Sumner Center ground-breaking: “This is an exciting time in the life of our college. All of these changes are great changes for our college. … We are moving in the right direction, one that is pointing us toward greatness.”