The descendants of Pella Corporation founder P.H. “Pete” Kuyper and their family foundations have teamed for a $4.2 million gift for the college’s athletics complex, which bears the family name.

It’s the largest gift in the college’s 163-year history.

Forever Dutch, an initiative to upgrade Central’s A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex, was launched January 30. Project costs for the first two phases of the initiative will exceed $15 million. But propelled by the lead gift and additional support garnered in the initiative’s quiet phase, the college now has approximately $11 million available for the project and a spring groundbreaking is anticipated for the next component, an expansion of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium, the athletics department headquarters.

“The Kuyper family’s enduring legacy of commitment to the students of Central College is far-reaching and unparalleled,” said president Mark Putnam in a statement. “With this gift, the family members have yet again demonstrated the depths of that commitment. They are exceedingly devoted to Central on a personal level, as is reflected, not only in their abundant financial support but in five generations of steadfast service as trustees, spanning two-thirds of the college’s history. The family’s generosity, spirit and service have played an enormous role in Central’s success, and the same could be said for their leadership in the Pella community. It is a partnership we deeply cherish.”

Putnam says the Kuyper family’s service to the college extends for more than a century. P.H. Kuyper’s father, A.N. Kuyper, was a college trustee in the early 1900s. His visionary leadership was critical, as noted by then-president Ken Weller in September, 1977, at the dedication of A.N. Kuyper Stadium, which at the Kuyper family’s request, was renamed Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium in 2006. The stadium was the first expansion of the athletics complex beyond the gymnasium and was a key component of the college’s master plan.

“During a crisis which threatened (Central’s) very existence, A.N. Kuyper stepped in and pulled it through,” Weller said then. “The family has been doing it ever since.”

At the 1977 event, Weller said Pete Kuyper was insistent that the athletics complex not simply be adequate.

“He made to me what, for him, is a typical remark: ‘If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right!,’” Weller said then.

Individual donations to the Forever Dutch initiative include a lead gift by Joan Farver. Financial commitments were also provided by Charles Farver, Mary Griffith, Pete Kuyper, Chip Griffith, the Joan Kuyper Farver Foundation and the Peter H. and E. Lucille Gaass Kuyper Foundation.

The Forever Dutch initiative has already provided enhancements to the football, baseball, softball and soccer venues. Phase two will fund improvements to 46-year-old P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Construction begins in the spring for the first component, a building expansion, which will provide a new south entrance with an atrium, expanded lobby, Hall of Honor and All-America corridor, highlighting more than 200 of the college’s most decorated student-athletes. An expansion to the west will create new varsity locker room space for men’s and women’s squads, a new expanded wrestling room and space for a hitting cage for softball, baseball and men’s/women’s golf. Also included are major infrastructure replacements and enhancements.

Fundraising will continue for the second component of phase two, an interior renovation that will provide a new team meeting space, new offices, athletic training room improvements and recruitment space. Additional practice and competition space could follow.