The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area has awarded Hope College a grant in support of the DeVos Fieldhouse project.
The foundation has presented Hope with $14,000. The grant recipients for 2003 were announced during the organization's Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Monday, April 28, at the Holland Country Club.
The fieldhouse is being designed as a multipurpose spectator facility with both campus and community use in mind. Planned uses include intercollegiate athletic events, sports events for local high schools and other community events. Owned and operated by Hope, the facility will become home court for the college's volleyball and men's and women's basketball programs, and will house the athletic training program.
The building, which will seat up to 3,500, will be constructed at the "Eastern Gateway" of both downtown and campus, on the former Western Foundry property on Fairbanks Avenue near 8th and 9th streets. The site plan emphasizes green space and attractive landscaping in an open, park-like setting.
The fieldhouse is being named in recognition of a $7.5 million anchor gift from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation. The project will total approximately $20 million, and is part of the college's "Legacies: A Vision of Hope" fund-raising campaign. Thus far, about $15.3 million has been raised for the project.
Site preparation began during the summer of 2002, and has included demolition of the foundry. Contingent upon the raising of the remaining funds, the college anticipates breaking ground in the late summer or early fall of 2003, with completion scheduled for early in 2005.