Work will begin in early March on the lower-level renovation of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium following a large response to the Central College Forever Dutch 48-Hour Challenge. Before that began earlier this semester, $220,000 was needed to reach the $3-million goal for the latest phase of the Forever Dutch initiative and college supporters blew past that figure, as $295,588 was raised. Excess funds will go toward the next phase, the $3-million upper-level building renovation. The lower-level renovation includes construction of a women’s varsity locker room that includes a team meeting room, a reconfigured athletic training room that will provide more treatment space and an expanded athletics equipment room. Work is expected to be completed prior to the arrival of fall sports teams on campus in mid-August next year. Parts of the building will be inaccessible during the renovation. Overall, the Forever Dutch initiative has generated more than $13.5 million overall from 1,323 supporters, funding the building expansion, which opened in 2017. It included a new building entrance with the M. Joan Kuyper Farver Atrium and expanded Pacha Family Lobby, varsity locker room, wrestling room, Chip Griffith student-athlete lounge/study center, Athletics Hall of Honor, Dave and Ardie Sutphen golf/baseball/softball hitting center and major infrastructure improvements. Fundraising is ongoing for the building’s upper-level renovation which will feature team meeting space, a new welcome center, recruitment space, offices and visitor locker room. Contributions can be made via forever.central.edu.