ELON, N.C. -- Elon University will break ground at 11 a.m. Saturday on Alumni Field House, a new 30,000-square-foot facility to be built adjoining the north end zone of Rhodes Stadium.  The Nov. 14 groundbreaking will precede the 3 p.m. football game between the sixth-ranked Elon Phoenix and the seventh-rated Appalachian State Mountaineers.  The university’s board of trustees has named the field house to honor all Elon alumni.
 
It is scheduled for completion by December 2010.
 
Speakers will include Elon University President Leo M. Lambert; Director of Athletics Dave Blank; head football coach Pete Lembo; women’s soccer head coach Chris Neal and student-athlete Molly Calpin.  Beginning at 10:30 a.m., a shuttle service will take those wishing to attend from the bell tower at the North Athletics Complex to the groundbreaking site.
 
The facility will include a large team meeting room and locker room for football; a conference room; an advanced athletic training room, including a hydrotherapy area; a large strength and conditioning room; and space for student athletes to study.  It will also provide offices for the athletics director and coaches in the football, baseball, soccer, cross country and track and field programs, as well as other athletics staff.
 
The new field house will include the Hendrickson Football Center in recognition of a gift from alumni Jay '71 and Amy '69 Hendrickson of Raleigh, N.C., who made a $1 million gift in honor of Jay's father, Horace J. Hendrickson, one of Elon's all-time great coaches.  
 
It will also contain the Walker VIP Room and Terrace, as well as the Zac Walker Place entrance road, in recognition of a gift from alumnus and trustee Zac Walker '60 and his wife, Dot, of Raleigh, N.C.  They made a $500,000 gift in honor of Zac’s father, Zachary T. Walker Jr., a member of Elon’s Sports Hall of Fame, and Zac’s uncle, D.C. “Peahead” Walker, another of Elon’s all-time great coaches.
 
A $250,000 gift from trustee emeritus W. E. “Dub” Love, Jr. ’48 and his wife, Ann, will name the football locker room.  Elon trustee Wes Elingburg and his wife, Cathy, longtime supporters of the university and parents of an Elon student, also made a generous gift in support of the project.
 
The Ward family – mother Cynthia, son Hunt ‘82 and his wife Julia – gave $100,000 in memory of C. Max Ward ’49.   Rear Admiral Edward “Ted” Walker, a member of the Board of Visitors, contributed $100,000. There were many other contributions to the project, including gifts by several former football players in honor of their coaches.