Sept. 14, 2002
TUCSON -
The University of Arizona athletics department officially opened its multi-faceted Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion in ceremonies Saturday morning. The new facility houses a new strength training and conditioning center, medical treatment center, the UA athletics heritage hall and a convocation and meeting area.
The ceremony included remarks by the namesakes for the facility's various features -- Eddie Lynch, Jim Click, Bill Estes, George Rountree and Michael Kasser.
The general public was on hand for the first open house of the entire complex, including the Jim Click Hall of Champions, the Estes Family Strength and Conditioning Center, the Kasser Family Medicat Treatment Center and the Rountree Mezzanine.
"We owe the entire university community and these individuals a huge debt of gratitude for the generosity and strength of purpose which helped this center become a reality," UA athletics director Jim Livengood told the crowd.
The pavilion, situated as a showcase entrance on the north side of McKale Center, also includes a Legacy Lane of paving tiles commemorating friends and others who contributed to the project. The pavilion covers nearly 35,000 square feet of space and gives the athletics department not only a state-of-art expansion of its overall facilities, but also freed up other space inside McKale Center that is undergoing renovation to accommodate new women's team lockerrooms, a revamped computer lab and academic and personal development offices.
Parts of the addition have been in use since the summer -- the strength and conditioning center and the medical treatment areas. Saturday's festivities marked the initial opening of the Click Hall of Champions and the Rountree Mezzanine.
