In Focus:
Clemson’s Capital Campaign for tennis
Last year, the Clemson athletic department announced a $50 million campaign to enhance the facilities at Memorial Stadium, the Hoke Sloan Tennis Complex, Riggs Field, Doug Kingsmore Stadium and Littlejohn Coliseum. Recently, Orange: The Experience assistant editor and senior writer Will Vandervort sat down with Assistant Director of IPTAY’s major gifts division, Aaron Dunham, to talk about why the Tennis Campaign is so important and what it means for Clemson’s future success in the sport. Q: What are the new plans for the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center? Mr. Dunham: We have a new vision for tennis. The idea is a brand new indoor facility with six covered courts, new coaches’ offices and new locker rooms all under one roof. Q: Where will this potential new facility be located, and what will it look like? Mr. Dunham: The new facility will face Riggs Field, so when fans come down Highway 93 from the campus towards the athletic complex, the facility will face them. The indoor facility we have now will be converted to an open-air covered pavilion. This will allow both the men’s and women’s teams to practice at the same time. The new indoor facility will have six courts, which will mean that the teams can play the six singles matches simultaneously, as opposed to now where the one through four singles players have to play and then the five and six players play later. This concept will fix all of those issues. Q: What will it take for this to actually happen? Also, what will be the price tag for this project? Mr. Dunham: We have a grand vision for this facility. To build something like this, we are going to need one or two significant gifts, because the price tag is high. The total cost is estimated to be somewhere between $6 and $8 million. Q: If you can raise the funds, what will you do with the current structure that is in place? Mr. Dunham: If we receive the support needed to proceed with the entire project, then we will actually tear down the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center that we have now. We are looking at this as a revitalization of the tennis complex. We want to rebuild both the Hoke Sloan Center and the Duckworth Pavilion. Q: How many courts will the new facility have? Will you gain or lose any? Mr. Dunham: Actually, with all of this that is planned, it will be a net gain of one court for the entire facility. So we would not lose any courts with these improvements. Q: What about the old plans? Will you still use those if you can’t get the major gifts for the grand tennis complex?
STADIUM SEATING
INDOOR
TENNIS FACILITY
COVERED TENNIS COURTS
Mr. Dunham: We have developed some really good plans for covering the outdoor seats and dressing up the back entrances. As we bring in some cash, and it becomes evident that we cannot find those major gifts that we really need to proceed with a full indoor complex, then we will work on the previous plans. Those plans include nice things we can do to dress up the facility as money comes in. Those plans have been on the books for a long time now, and we think they would be valuable improvements to the facility. Q: How are you involving the Clemson tennis family in this project? Mr. Dunham: We had a reunion for former players and other members of the Clemson tennis family during the weekend of the Spring Game. This event was the first tennis reunion in several years. What we are trying to do is revitalize the alumni network. We want to engage our alumni and let them know what is going on. We launched this campaign at the reunion. We have put a great committee together chaired by Jane Duckworth. We also have a bunch of great IPTAY members in the leadership group, including Robby Jones (a former player), Wes McMullan, Tom and Liz Moran (whose son Wes was on the team this past year), and David Wilkins, who is a former player and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. It is a great group. Then we have an advisory group made up of former players and people with tennis connections who are helping us as well. It has been special to see some of the alumni back and participating in the program. Q: Why is this important? Why do we need these new tennis facilities? Mr. Dunham: This campaign is all about trying to be on par with our peers in the ACC and in the Southeast because they have really stepped it up. Wake Forest completed a campaign in conjunction with the city of Winston-Salem
and has a new facility. NC State has redone its facility. Florida State is getting ready to do something new, and South Carolina just unveiled their new stadium this past spring. Q: I would imagine this facility will honor Clemson’s rich history in men’s and women’s tennis? Mr. Dunham: We have a great history at Clemson when it comes to tennis. We have a tremendous legacy established here thanks to Coach Duane Bruley, Coach Chuck Kriese and Coach Andy Johnston, and we appreciate their support and involvement in the campaign. All three of them were here for the reunion, which was great. Q: If you can raise the funds, when will this project get started? Mr. Dunham: One component will get started soon the Highway 93 Pedestrian Bridge Project which is a partnership between the Athletic Department and the City of Clemson. That project will impact both the soccer and tennis facilities and create more of a front door for Clemson Tennis. It will dress up the sidewalk and give the program a true entrance way. Q: What do you need to get this project started? Also, if someone is interested in learning more about the tennis campaign or wanting to give money, how can they contact you? Mr. Dunham: IPTAY is currently matching up to $3 million in cash donations received (not pledges), so any significant cash gift made now will have a major impact. Pledges (payable over a five-year period) are important as well. We want to challenge all Clemson Tennis fans to help us meet that $3 million benchmark. For more information or if anyone is interested in learning more about the Tennis Campaign, please contact me (Aaron Dunham) at (864) 656-5209 or email me at dunham@clemson.edu. — compiled by Will Vandervort
july 2012
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