NewsUpper SchoolPre-K to 8
Campaign for New Athletic Facility Enters Final Phase
Jun 1, 1999 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
The Campaign for Darlington reached a milestone May 4, when an anonymous Atlanta friend of Darlington awarded the school a $1.5 million challenge grant designated for the Student Athletic and Recreation Center, the campaign’s centerpiece.
“The significance of this grant is immense, for it gives us the challenge and opportunity to raise the necessary funds to build the entire facility,” said Campaign Chairman Billy Morris ’52.
The challenge grant has already inspired additional gifts to the campaign: three members of the class of 1967 increased their current commitments to the facility by $2 million, bringing the total dollars raised for the project up to $9.4 million. To date some 50 Darlington alumni, parents, and friends have contributed financially to the project.
The new facility was originally conceived as a two-phase project, the first of which was to have been built for $10 million through the current Campaign for Darlington. In order for Darlington to receive the challenge grant, funding for both phases, totalling $16 million, must be secured in this campaign.
The Board of Trustees has set a deadline of Sept. 15, 1999, for raising the final $5.1 million needed to secure the $1.5 million grant and build the facility.
“This challenge grant creates an awesome opportunity for the Darlington community as we enter the last year of the campaign,” said Darlington President Jim McCallie. “We’re going to be able to provide the school vital facilities for the future as a day and boarding school. The impact this facility will have on the Darlington community is enormous.”
“No construction can begin, no groundbreaking can occur, until all the
funds are committed,” Campaign Director E. Wright Ledbetter ’85 stressed.
When complete, the state-of-the-art facility will accommodate basketball games and swimming meets, dances and proms, indoor programs and graduations, wrestling tournaments and volleyball matches, and much more. Summer programs will have the space to expand as well.
“The significance of this grant is immense, for it gives us the challenge and opportunity to raise the necessary funds to build the entire facility,” said Campaign Chairman Billy Morris ’52.
The challenge grant has already inspired additional gifts to the campaign: three members of the class of 1967 increased their current commitments to the facility by $2 million, bringing the total dollars raised for the project up to $9.4 million. To date some 50 Darlington alumni, parents, and friends have contributed financially to the project.
The new facility was originally conceived as a two-phase project, the first of which was to have been built for $10 million through the current Campaign for Darlington. In order for Darlington to receive the challenge grant, funding for both phases, totalling $16 million, must be secured in this campaign.
The Board of Trustees has set a deadline of Sept. 15, 1999, for raising the final $5.1 million needed to secure the $1.5 million grant and build the facility.
“This challenge grant creates an awesome opportunity for the Darlington community as we enter the last year of the campaign,” said Darlington President Jim McCallie. “We’re going to be able to provide the school vital facilities for the future as a day and boarding school. The impact this facility will have on the Darlington community is enormous.”
“No construction can begin, no groundbreaking can occur, until all the
funds are committed,” Campaign Director E. Wright Ledbetter ’85 stressed.
When complete, the state-of-the-art facility will accommodate basketball games and swimming meets, dances and proms, indoor programs and graduations, wrestling tournaments and volleyball matches, and much more. Summer programs will have the space to expand as well.
