The next phase in major facility upgrades at Central College’s Kuyper Athletics Complex was announced Saturday evening.

President Mark Putnam unveiled the $15 million expansion and renovation of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium at the Central Basketball games heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The upgrade is a part of the Forever Dutch initiative, which began with outdoor field improvements over the past two years.

President Mark Putnam tells KNIA/KRLS News the makeover is long overdue, as they anticipate continued growth in their athletics programs.

“This is a 45 year old facility built in 1969 and has served us extremely well–the building owes us nothing,” Putnam says. “But it was built at a time when we had 200 male athletes in eight sports, and now the reality is now more than 700 athletes in 19 sports.

“So squeezing everyone into that space for a lot of years has been a wonderful accomplishment, but it’s time, it’s time for us knowing that the systems of this building are in need of repair and replacement and also to create the kind of facilities our student athletes deserve.”

Athletic Director Eric Van Kley says it will provide great benefit to the teams currently utilizing the building in a variety of ways. He anticipates the renovation including additional locker room space, an expanded athletic training room, a new team meeting room, new recruitment space and new staff offices, as well as enhancements to competition facilities.

“It really touches nearly all of our student athletes in some form or another, and also our broader students in general at Central College will see a benefit from this,” Van Kley says.

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