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Huffman Memorial Athletic Center reaches completion goal
Jul 23, 2001 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
With the A.J. Huffman ’67 Memorial Athletic Center (HMAC) nearing completion in time for the 2001-2002 school year, Athletic Director Jerry Sharp recently led a task force that determined the rules and hours of use for the center. Many of its facilities will be freely accessible by students, while others will have certain regulations regarding their use.
“We planned the athletic center's use primarily for the students,” Sharp said. “It will be open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, we hope to have the weight room open from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the pool open from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The weight room and the pool can be used by students only if they are supervised by a faculty member.”
Sharp said that the HMAC would allow Darlington’s existing programs to expand dramatically. “Students will reap a lot of benefits,” he said.
“Some programs were limited and crowded due to space, and those programs can now have individual attention,” he said. “With the expanded weight room, we will be able to offer aerobics classes to students. Additional ASA (after-school activity) space in the rubber-floored auxiliary gym will allow basketball teams to use the current gym. Dressing room facilities have expanded – there are now three boys’ rooms and three girls’ rooms, as opposed to two and one before. There will also be more showers.”
The larger facility will also lead to expanded tournaments. “In the past, Darlington could not hold region tournaments,” Sharp explained. “With the HMAC, we can now hold them. One basketball tournament and three volleyball tournaments have already been scheduled. This will allow even more students to come watch a region tournament.”
“The HMAC can also be used for rainy days,” Sharp noted. “ASA used to be held outside during the rain. Now, teams such as the soccer team can practice indoors if it rains. There are enough gyms now to accommodate everybody. There is even room to hold school dances.”
Sharp’s task force determined all aspects of student access with a focus on students' safety. “There are only two doors that will remain unlocked during usage hours,” he said. “Students can use the underpass and go in by the dressing rooms, or they can use the main front doors by the parking lot. All other doors will remain locked.”
If students wish to use the HMAC at odd hours, they will have to contact a faculty member with a key. According to Sharp, all varsity coaches will have a key, as will all junior varsity coaches and Director of Intramural Programs Angie Milford.
Darlington teams are not the only ones that will use the playing gym. Sharp said that the gym would be rented out to other institutions for athletic events including basketball and wrestling tournaments. He said that the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has already expressed interest in using the center for events.
The HMAC will be open to community events as well. According to Sharp, the Rotary and Exchange clubs plan to host a joint luncheon on the grounds. “This will allow the community to become familiar with it,” he said.
Sharp said that any person or group interested in renting the facility should contact him at jsharp@darlingtonschool.org.
Additionally, the task force decided which members of the Darlington community would have access to the HMAC’s facilities. “We came up with a priority list,” Sharp said. “The students were at the top. Below them were faculty members and their families, and then Darlington parents and alumni. The students come first. If parents are using the facility and a group of students comes in, we will ask the parents to please step aside.”
Parents that currently use Darlington’s outdoor jogging track may be especially interested in a new suspended jogging track that will be available year-round. Sharp said that exercise classes for adults have not been scheduled at this time, but may be in the future.
The HMAC will be formally dedicated on September 28, 2001, coinciding with Homecoming and Parents Weekend. The ceremony will be open to the entire Darlington community, and special guests will be invited, including donors and members of the Board of Visitors, the Board of Trustees, and the construction team. The dedication will take place at 11:15 a.m., and an open house and tours of the center will be offered from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. A homecoming and parent barbecue will start at 5:30 p.m. Kick-off for the homecoming football game will be at 7:30 p.m.
The construction of the HMAC was funded by the Campaign for Darlington, which raised $43.1 million by its conclusion in June of 2000, $16 million of which went towards completing the athletic center. The rest of the Campaign’s money went towards improving the infrastructure of four historic buildings on campus and endowment support.
The HMAC is named in memory of A. J. “Butch” Huffman ’67. After graduating from Darlington, Huffman earned a degree from Georgia Tech but was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1971. Three of his fellow classmates, Larry Williams, Wilkie Colyer, and Bill Holmes, worked together to secure $4 million to donate to the project in order to name the facility after Huffman.
“Those who knew Butch will never forget his special talents and qualities. He had the rare balance of academic, social, and athletic strengths,” said Williams, a Darlington trustee and athletic center team chair. “He would have made a big difference in this world and in the lives of those who knew him if he had been given the chance.”
“We planned the athletic center's use primarily for the students,” Sharp said. “It will be open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, we hope to have the weight room open from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the pool open from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The weight room and the pool can be used by students only if they are supervised by a faculty member.”
Sharp said that the HMAC would allow Darlington’s existing programs to expand dramatically. “Students will reap a lot of benefits,” he said.
“Some programs were limited and crowded due to space, and those programs can now have individual attention,” he said. “With the expanded weight room, we will be able to offer aerobics classes to students. Additional ASA (after-school activity) space in the rubber-floored auxiliary gym will allow basketball teams to use the current gym. Dressing room facilities have expanded – there are now three boys’ rooms and three girls’ rooms, as opposed to two and one before. There will also be more showers.”
The larger facility will also lead to expanded tournaments. “In the past, Darlington could not hold region tournaments,” Sharp explained. “With the HMAC, we can now hold them. One basketball tournament and three volleyball tournaments have already been scheduled. This will allow even more students to come watch a region tournament.”
“The HMAC can also be used for rainy days,” Sharp noted. “ASA used to be held outside during the rain. Now, teams such as the soccer team can practice indoors if it rains. There are enough gyms now to accommodate everybody. There is even room to hold school dances.”
Sharp’s task force determined all aspects of student access with a focus on students' safety. “There are only two doors that will remain unlocked during usage hours,” he said. “Students can use the underpass and go in by the dressing rooms, or they can use the main front doors by the parking lot. All other doors will remain locked.”
If students wish to use the HMAC at odd hours, they will have to contact a faculty member with a key. According to Sharp, all varsity coaches will have a key, as will all junior varsity coaches and Director of Intramural Programs Angie Milford.
Darlington teams are not the only ones that will use the playing gym. Sharp said that the gym would be rented out to other institutions for athletic events including basketball and wrestling tournaments. He said that the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has already expressed interest in using the center for events.
The HMAC will be open to community events as well. According to Sharp, the Rotary and Exchange clubs plan to host a joint luncheon on the grounds. “This will allow the community to become familiar with it,” he said.
Sharp said that any person or group interested in renting the facility should contact him at jsharp@darlingtonschool.org.
Additionally, the task force decided which members of the Darlington community would have access to the HMAC’s facilities. “We came up with a priority list,” Sharp said. “The students were at the top. Below them were faculty members and their families, and then Darlington parents and alumni. The students come first. If parents are using the facility and a group of students comes in, we will ask the parents to please step aside.”
Parents that currently use Darlington’s outdoor jogging track may be especially interested in a new suspended jogging track that will be available year-round. Sharp said that exercise classes for adults have not been scheduled at this time, but may be in the future.
The HMAC will be formally dedicated on September 28, 2001, coinciding with Homecoming and Parents Weekend. The ceremony will be open to the entire Darlington community, and special guests will be invited, including donors and members of the Board of Visitors, the Board of Trustees, and the construction team. The dedication will take place at 11:15 a.m., and an open house and tours of the center will be offered from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. A homecoming and parent barbecue will start at 5:30 p.m. Kick-off for the homecoming football game will be at 7:30 p.m.
The construction of the HMAC was funded by the Campaign for Darlington, which raised $43.1 million by its conclusion in June of 2000, $16 million of which went towards completing the athletic center. The rest of the Campaign’s money went towards improving the infrastructure of four historic buildings on campus and endowment support.
The HMAC is named in memory of A. J. “Butch” Huffman ’67. After graduating from Darlington, Huffman earned a degree from Georgia Tech but was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1971. Three of his fellow classmates, Larry Williams, Wilkie Colyer, and Bill Holmes, worked together to secure $4 million to donate to the project in order to name the facility after Huffman.
“Those who knew Butch will never forget his special talents and qualities. He had the rare balance of academic, social, and athletic strengths,” said Williams, a Darlington trustee and athletic center team chair. “He would have made a big difference in this world and in the lives of those who knew him if he had been given the chance.”
