Ouachita commemorated the opening of its new wrestling facility in a ceremony this afternoon. The new complex is the culmination of more than a year’s work by contractors, school administration and the members of Ouachita’s wrestling program. The building housed Ouachita’s Facilities Management department for 40 years before being renovated and remodeled for the wrestling program, which is barely more than a year old.
“We quickly realized that the university did not have an available structure to accommodate the practice space needed by the team,” said Brett Powell, vice president of administrative services. “We looked at several options but none of them were sufficient, so we started working on temporary and long-term solutions.”
As vice president for administrative services, one of Powell’s responsibilities is making sure that there is adequate space for university activities, and though the wrestling program is still very young, he has been heavily involved with this project.
“Fortunately, we had just completed a storage building at the Facilities Management complex that was still vacant and close to the size we needed,” he said. “[But] since Facilities Management planned to move into the building once the rest of the complex was completed, we knew this was only a one year solution.”
The old Facilities Management building, located behind Sturgis Physical Education Center, was constructed in the 1970s and was exactly the size needed by the wrestling team, but there were two significant issues: first, the building itself was showing signs of four decades worth of wear; second, the interior was divided into office spaces, which did not fit the space needs of team.
As renovations went under way, all that was retained of the original building was its skeleton. The exterior was given new metal siding and all the interior finishes were renovated. New walls, floor coverings, plumbing and ceilings were put into the structure.
“I named this project the ‘diamond from a lump of coal,’” said John Hardman, facilities director. “From what the building was when we moved out of it to what it is today, I am truly proud of what was accomplished.”
Hardman’s responsibilities in the project included contacting sub-contractors, gathering pricing, inspecting the work done and the works in progress, submitting changes to the administration and head coach and assigning work to the Facilities Management staff that had not been awarded to the other sub-contractors.
“I basically served as general contractor for the project,” he said. “The facility was finished on time, with a better product than expected. What we actually achieved was a perfect product for wrestling.”
In fact, the finished complex rivals that of most Division I schools.
“It’s much easier to get excited about practice when you have a brand new facility to walk into everyday,” said Kevin Ward, the head wrestling coach. “The great thing about this place is that it’s an entire complex dedicated to our team. We squeezed in as much as we could into the space to give our athletes a facility that has almost everything they need. We have a study lounge, an athletic training room, a TV lounge within the locker room, a coach’s office and more than 3,500 square feet of wrestling space. I think we got all we could out of the building. Hopefully, this is the start to building a great wrestling program that the entire OBU community can be proud of.”
During the renovations, the members of the wrestling team were forced to sacrifice a place to practice wrestling at the beginning of the year. Their exercise came from lifting weights and running.
“At my old school, I could never even dream of having a facility as nice as ours,” said Aaron Butler, senior Spanish education major and member of the wrestling team. “I think our team has been blessed with the tools to make big things happen, and now it’s only a matter of time before we start showing that.”
Now the team has a cardio and weight area, two full size showers, a steam room, a training room with a cold tub and therapy tables as well as a laundry room.
“Our new complex will give us the space and resources needed to grow into what the program has the potential to be,” Butler said. “From here, our program will only get better. I can tell you that we are very thankful.”
The benefits of this new complex will be felt across the entire university. It will serve as a valuable recruiting asset to the team and attract athletes who might not have considered Ouachita in the first place.
“When you bring more students onto campus it really helps the spirit of the place,” said Dr. Rex Horne, Ouachita’s president. “It [also] helps in the growth of the university, the disciplines we have, the enrollment in our different schools and it has this ripple effect that just spreads out across the line.”
Horne has been involved in the wrestling program since its inception. It was first mentioned to him by a close friend of his. Horne eventually got the program approved by the Board of Trustees, and it has taken off from there.
He gave an address at the dedication along with that same friend, Greg Hatcher, to whom the complex was dedicated. Hatcher’s name was not revealed until the ceremony, and it has been the opinion of most everyone involved that this man is a friend of the university and has spurred the rise of wrestling in the state of Arkansas through his contributions to the Arkansas Wrestling Association. Without Hatcher, Arkansas would not have high school wrestling. Hatcher has been instrumental in bringing wrestling to Ouachita, including hiring a coach, recruiting student athletes and making it possible for the program to have a permanent home.
“I speak often of making a difference,” Horne said. “And this program [is doing] just that.”
Picture by Heather Ellis.
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