Crown Jewel

The Cregger Center will have far-reaching impact on Roanoke College and the surrounding community.

From Sutton Commons and the Colket Center, to Kerr Stadium and Fintel Library, physical improvements on the Roanoke College campus have always symbolized unity and tradition in a way that is indelibly etched in the minds of students and neighboring Roanoke Valley residents.

The Cregger Center represents the latest in a long line of Roanoke College responses to the needs of its students, bringing together academics, athletics and recreation under one roof.

"Roanoke College thinks big - especially when trying to make improvements in the lives of students while they're here," says Roanoke College President Michael Maxey.

Thinking big is just what Morris Cregger '64, Board of Trustees chair, was doing when it occurred to him, with the Bast Center long outgrown, that Roanoke College didn't have a student activity hub. After thinking about it and meeting with fellow board members, the discussion turned to constructing a new building rather than renovate existing spaces.

"We saw a need and I saw a fit for what I wanted to do for the school," Cregger says. "I hope it's going to be a gathering point for students."

Cregger wasn't the only alumnus or alumna to recognize the need. During Alumni Weekend this past April, he and fellow Maroons Hall of Famer Donald Kerr '60, announced a joint $5 million gift toward construction of the Cregger Center's Field House.

"We hadn't had any new facilities in quite a while and we thought [the Cregger Center] was something we really needed to do to stay competitive with other schools," says Kerr, also a Board of Trustees member. "In order to make it happen, we needed others to step up like Morris did." 

Nancy Mulheren '72 already had done just that. When Roanoke launched its Roanoke Rising campaign in 2013, Mulheren, a Board member, announced a $25 million pledge from the Mulheren family to the College - the largest gift in the College's history. Of that pledge, $4 million is for the Cregger Center, to be used specifically for landscaping, hardscaping - such as lampposts - and interior design. 

"I've really been hands-on in the development of all the landscaping and hardscaping," said Mulheren, who co-chairs the Board of Trustees' Building and Grounds Committee. "That has been my push: Improving the look of the campus."

Mulheren said her involvement with the Cregger Center has not been with the physical layout, where the classrooms and locker rooms will be located, for example. "I'm more concerned with making sure the finished product blends with the rest of campus - and the surrounding community," she said. "And I really want to make certain that the front and the back are equally attractive."

The 155,000-square-foot complex is multifaceted and features classrooms, offices, meeting spaces, a performance gym with a 2,500-seat capacity, a fitness center, an athletic training room, and in the field house - to be named the Kerr-Cregger Field House - event seating space for 3,500 and a 200-meter indoor track, the only one of its kind in the Roanoke Valley. The center currently is under construction at the peak of Peery Drive on the site of the old Bowman Hall.
 
"These new facilities are going to be the best in the region by far," says Dr. John Creasy, associate professor and chair of the Health and Human Performance Department. "I'm most excited about the opportunity for students to have a multitude of activities under one roof. It provides space we don't currently have and allows us to be inside and very active during times of inclement weather."

The Cregger Center isn't for athletes only. That's a misconception Creasy would like to correct. 

"It's for all students in the community. The new basketball floors, inside activity space, the track and new science labs are all on the same floor as the classrooms. Rather than trying to locate classes where campus space is available, we designed what we needed for our students," Creasy says. "Those studying health and human performance will have the opportunity to apply theories learned in the same space."

"It's unbelievable," he says. "This isn't an athletic building; it's a Roanoke College building and a community center. All students can use it every day from classes, to fitness, to recreation."

The new center already is a tremendous recruiting tool even before it opens, as Creasy and others share renderings with prospective students. The impact, however, isn't limited to the College itself. The Salem community, the Roanoke Valley and points across the commonwealth and the region will feel the impact.

"We're very excited about the Cregger Center at Roanoke College because it adds additional sports marketing opportunities for the area," explains Carey Harveycutter, director of tourism for the City of Salem. "We've already had preliminary discussions about having high school track meets there, and we're becoming more involved with the NCAA regionals track meets. It opens up the Valley for more athletic events."

The reaction, he says, has been very positive within the sporting community and beyond. "The field is wide open for what could be done with a variety of sports. With state-of-the-art timing and high-quality surfaces, it's going to be a great tool to attract additional sports to the Valley."

"The sky is the limit," Harveycutter says. "Working in conjunction with events hosted there by the College, the new center really shows off the beautiful campus to prospective students and to the local community as well." 

As an academic and social event venue, the new center will give Roanoke College a chance to engage with its surrounding community like never before.

"It will accomplish a lot of good things," President Maxey says. "It expands our cultural and intellectual reach and will become the location for large public lectures and events, including our convocation. It gives us the chance to vastly expand our cultural programming."

The Cregger Center evolved out of a need and a vision for what could be done to make a wonderful campus even better; it also came from a need to give back. 

"You go through life and a lot of meaningful things happen to you that you take for granted," Morris Cregger says. "This is my way of honoring all of the people who helped mold my life and pick me up when I took the wrong road and expected nothing in return. I took it for granted. But if they had not been there and taken the time with me, I would not be here today."

"Throughout my life, my parents, coaches, teachers, friends, business associates and teammates have blessed my life in so many ways," Cregger says. "I owe this to the community and to the school. I want other people to have the same opportunities that I had."

Kerr has the same devotion to the project. 

"When Morris and I started talking about the need for a student center with multiple uses, including athletics, we agreed we were going to do this the right way, and not cut corners," Kerr says.

"It really is a jewel in the crown." 

- Nan Johnson