University of Portland receives $500,000 from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for the Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center
Recreational Services
Development
April 17, 2015
University of Portland has announced a grant of $500,000 from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for the Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center, currently under construction and named in recognition of former University President Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C. The Beauchamp Center, with an estimated cost of $23.7 million is expected to be completed this summer in time for the next academic year.
The Center is being constructed entirely from donor-supported funding and has a wide variety of support from a number of constituents, including the University’s Board of Regents, who have committed several million dollars to the project. In addition, young alumni met a matching donation of $50,000, and the student government association gave more than $72,000. And recently, the University launched a “buy a paver” program to help support the center.
“I am grateful that Murdock Charitable Trust is partnering with University of Portland in support of this much needed Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center,” said University President Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C. “We appreciate the generosity of the Trust in helping us create a space that will greatly enhance our campus community and contribute to the holistic education we offer here on The Bluff.”
The two-story 72,270 square-foot facility is expected to become a dynamic focal point on campus and enhance the physical and mental health of students, faculty and staff. Design elements of the new center include: expanded fitness areas with cardio machines, weights, and strength stations; a gymnasium with three courts; climbing wall; indoor track; a large outdoor pursuits center; and multiple studios for functional training, spin classes, yoga, health assessment testing, and counseling. The facade of the building will incorporate brick and large glass windows, and openness will be a theme throughout the building.
The center is designed to satisfy three primary goals:
- Strengthen UP’s commitment to community building by creating an inviting fitness environment with the capacity to serve the whole campus.
- Foster life-long health and wellness habits by enriching fitness and wellness programming, so as to inspire current users to engage more, and encouraging non-gym-users to participate in a greater variety of exercise and wellness activities.
- Bolster campus recruitment and retention strategies by demonstrating UP’s commitment to the quality of student life.
“As a Holy Cross university, UP believes that education is a formative process where students must have many varied and significant opportunities to shape their character – both within and outside the classroom,” the Murdock grant proposal concluded. “By investing in the physical environment of campus, UP believes it can offer students tools and support to enrich their formation and at the same time provide a high quality campus life experience. The Beauchamp Center is key to building this kind of environment.”
The Beauchamp Center was designed by 360 Architecture and Soderstrom Architects and is being built by SKANSKA. Dan Danielson is the Partner-in-Charge and a founding principal of Soderstrom Architects.
The M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust seeks to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants and enrichment programs to non-profit organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. In addition to a special interest in education and scientific research, the Trust partners with a wide variety of organizations that serve the arts, public affairs, health and medicine, human services, leadership development and persons with disabilities.
