Groundbreaking ceremony marks the beginning of construction on new academy athletic facilities
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
The Lipscomb community celebrated a significant milestone in the history of Lipscomb Academy Nov. 6 as university and academy officials broke ground on the new McCadams Athletic Center project. Construction on the project is currently underway.
The ceremony was part of a pep rally held inside the Lipscomb Academy high school gym that featured the pep band and cheerleaders along with messages from school administrators, parents and board members. It also featured Lipscomb Academy students representing each athletic team fielded by the school.
The McCadams Athletic Center is a $5 million, 25,000-square-foot indoor training facility that will benefit all Lipscomb Academy students and honor the late Glenn McCadams, Lipscomb Academy’s longtime football coach and athletic director.
“This is a special day for Lipscomb Academy,” said Greg Glenn, Lipscomb Academy head of school. “While today marks the first physical step in the building taking shape, it is only the beginning of a story that will occur for years to come. In this story, you, our 
students, will experience peaks and valleys, highs and lows and victories and defeats, as you use your physical gifts for God’s glory and learn the lifelong lessons that can only be learned by being part of a team. The McCadams Athletic Center will be a place that will help you realize your physical abilities and will also nurture your spirit as you bond with your teammates and as you unite with a common goal of glorifying God.”
The McCadams Athletic Center is a state-of-the-art training facility for all sports that will offer female and male student athletes a place to develop skills such as agility, strength and speed and will include a climate-controlled, turfed indoor practice facility, one of only three in Middle Tennessee; a girls’ locker room; a team meeting room and conference room with the latest in technology and audiovisual capabilities; new public restrooms; and an outdoor terrace/special event space overlooking the football field. The McCadams Athletic Center will be complete in the fall of 2016 with additional enhancements to follow.
“I’m pleased to be able to represent my fellow students at this occasion today,” said David Floyd, senior class president and member of the Lipscomb Academy football team. “Lipscomb Academy has had an incredible impact on my life and has a special place in my heart. Through my time at Lipscomb, I’ve seen just how special this community is. Our teachers work tirelessly to help our students grow in the classroom. Our coaches find every piece of potential in an athlete and helps that student realize their potential. I feel an overwhelming sense of pride in being a Mustang, and I cannot wait to see how the McCadams Athletic Center will bless our campus. Thank you to each of you for your commitment to honor Coach Mac’s legacy and to provide for generations yet to come.”
Recently, the Lipscomb University Board of Trustees provided a challenge gift to the McCadams Athletic Center and Reese Smith Athletic Complex stadium improvements, which helped serve as a catalyst for construction of the project. In total, the project has a price tag of approximately $8 million. A fundraising committee, comprised of parent volunteers, has also been instrumental in raising funds for the project.
“Glenn McCadams clearly understood that the most important thing that happens on the athletic fields at Lipscomb is not winning and losing,” Jim Griffith, Lipscomb trustee and Lipscomb Academy grandparent, told the crowd. “It’s the building of Christian men and Christian women and preparing them for winning in life after school. Those values are his legacy, and those are the things that Lipscomb excels at. The trustees of the university are fully committed and have made a major commitment both individually and collectively to make sure that the McCadams Field House will be built and it will be accompanied by a major upgrade in the athletic facilities at Lipscomb Academy. We made a major step in that progress today with this groundbreaking ceremony.”
Future projects include an addition to and renovation of the current football stadium which includes an expanded coed weight training room with new top quality equipment; new coed sports medicine / physical therapy area; a completely renovated football, junior varsity, and visitor locker room areas; renovated concessions area with improved access; and the construction of Mustang Plaza, a plaza that will connect the new McCadams Athletic Center to the existing stadium and showcase the academy’s rich history of excellence in athletics.
An additional project phase includes converting the football field to an artificial turf surface that will provide year-round use for multiple sports; new stadium and track lighting, as well as a new scoreboard; and a refurbishing of the track surrounding the complex with the addition of the Victory Trail, an experiential walking surface will encircle the entire complex, complete with fitness stations and spiritual meditation spaces.
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Photos by Kristi Jones. Video by Josh Shaw.
