By Hannah Bartlebaugh, Staff Writer
Wheaton College announced at this year’s Homecoming Weekend that the new “Faithfully Forward” campaign will include fundraising for renovations to Chrouser Sports Complex.
The announcement was made publicly at the Faithfully Forward “Evening of Music and Mission” held on Friday, Sept. 28. The event featured a concert by TAYA, a contemporary Christian music artist and former member of Hillsong Worship. Before TAYA took the stage, however, a video was shown to announce Wheaton College’s goals for the new capital campaign. President Philip Ryken then delivered some remarks, explaining the campaign’s goals in more detail, which included concept art for both Chrouser and the library. According to Ryken, Wheaton has raised $232 million in the quiet phase of the campaign. He said he plans to give another update on construction in October.
Renovations to Chrouser have long been a topic of discussion among the campus community. Student-athletes have regularly expressed their requests for improved training space and locker rooms. The last substantial renovation to Chrouser was done in 2000, when the current weight room, King Arena and the the second floor office spaces were built. Everything north of King Arena has not been renovated since 1960, including the locker rooms shared by Wheaton’s athletic teams.
“It’s not air-conditioned, it’s not well-ventilated,” said Associate Athletics Director Bill Stukes about the conditions of the current space. “It’s old metal lockers with padlocks.” Stukes said many athletes currently share lockers. When a sports team is not in season, those athletes often have to give up their lockers to athletes from an in-season sports team.
According to Jordan Christner, Wheaton’s capital campaign director, the men’s soccer, football and track and field teams all share a locker room. All of the women’s athletic teams, outside of basketball and volleyball, share a single locker room. Additionally, both the men’s and women’s locker rooms lack private bathrooms and shower space. The men’s basketball team and the women’s basketball and volleyball teams are the only teams to have their own locker rooms.
The renovations will be funded through Wheaton’s newest capital campaign, titled Faithfully Forward. Along with Chrouser, the campaign will also be raising funds for renovations to the library.
“All of this will be due to the generosity of our donors,” Christner said. “Building projects are donor-funded and not part of the normal budget of the college.”
Christner emphasizes that this particular campaign is unique because it includes two building projects. In the past, Wheaton College often focused on only one building project during a capital campaign. The most recent project was the Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, which opened in 2017.
When completed, the Chrouser renovation project will include an athletes-only weight room, along with separate locker rooms for each athletic team. There will also be a space dedicated to athletic training and medical care. Stukes says the locker rooms will be modeled after the newly renovated basketball locker rooms.
The new weight room will be designed for athletic lifting specifically, and will free up space for more workout equipment in the general weight room. The plan is to build an addition onto the building, extending into the current Chrouser parking lot, adding a new entrance.
“When larger sports teams are in there, sometimes there’s not enough space for other students to work out and things like that,” Christner said. “So this will kind of help alleviate a lot of that when it’s too busy or closed down due to teams needing to use that space.”
Stukes says that the renovations would ideally take 18 months to complete, beginning in May of next year with a target end date of August 2027. It could be pushed back another year or two, though, depending on how things go. The final construction timeline decisions have yet to be made by the college’s board of trustees. Only parts of the building will be under construction at a given time, so that the building can remain open and functional for the campus to use.
Athletics Director Mike Schauer says that the Chrouser renovations are a “deep need” for athletics to maintain their competitive excellence.
“I’m thankful that the college has included us in the capital campaign to have this addition put in,” he said. “It’ll recognize the role athletics plays at the college, and the holistic development of a student that athletics participates in.”
Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to include more information about the renovation timelines.
