Donations for the $15-million basketball training facility and athletic complex have increased over the past month, after fund-raising efforts nearly reached a standstill during the summer.
Earlier this year the Athletic Department announced its plan to build the new facility, which will house two basketball courts, an event space and the athletic department's academic center. The new facility will alleviate some of the congestion in Cameron Indoor Stadium, where many of Duke's teams practice and play their home games.
Athletic Director Joe Alleva said Wednesday that $7 million has been pledged to the project so far, and based on talks with potential donors, the total could increase to nearly $12 million within the next month. Since Aug. 30, the Athletic Department has received approximately $2 million.
"Fundraising is going better," Alleva said. "We're making progress, and I'm encouraged about it."
The facility received a major boost July 28 when former men's basketball players Christian Laettner and Brian Davis made a $2-million contribution to the Legacy Fund, an organization devoted to capital improvements and scholarship endowment for the men's basketball program. A portion of the gift went to endowing a scholarship, while the other $1.25 million went toward the new building.
This donation aside, however, the summer marked a slow period for fundraising, which Alleva said was partially the result of potential donors travelling and vacationing.
But the stall did not prevent the Athletic Department from making changes to what it envisioned for the new building. Space was allocated for the student-athlete academic center-which was not a part of the original drafts. The space is currently located in the Schwartz-Butters Athletic Complex. Athletic officials said the current center needs to be enlarged. In addition to meeting that goal, the new location will be more accessible to student-athletes before and after their practices.
"The original plan was kind of a box with two basketball courts and some auxiliary space for a weight room and some audiovisual stuff," Alleva said. "But as we looked at the box, we said... 'While we're doing this, let's do it right.' We started to look at what we could put on that wing, and academics was the perfect fit for it."
By relocating the academic center, the Athletic Department will likely move its Sports Information Department from Cameron to Schwartz-Butters, which in turn will free up space to increase the size of the development office, Alleva said.
He also stressed that in addition to the benefits for the Athletic Department, the University could utilize the new facility's event space, which will be available to host banquets and conferences.
The additional practice courts will provide space Duke's basketball programs need. Under the current arrangement, the men's and women's teams have to coordinate their practice schedules, often having to alternate between morning, afternoon and evening practices in Cameron. The new courts will be used exclusively by the basketball teams and their alumni.
"This place was only built to play basketball in and now we have two basketball teams," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Cameron. "Now we play volleyball in there. We wrestle in there. We graduate in there. People would like to do everything in there... [The practice facility] wouldn't be for camps or anything else, it would be for basketball. It would be exciting."
Krzyzewski also said he hopes the new facility will encourage former Blue Devils to return to Durham for their summer workouts-something players have often avoided because Cameron provides little privacy, especially during the off-season.
"A lot more guys will come back in the summer time," former Blue Devil Chris Carrawell said. "Instead of maybe just coming in for the K Academy, maybe you come in for a couple of weeks and work out with the guys since we're all in the same place. It's going to be huge."
Alleva also sees the new facility as an opportunity to create an environment that links past, present and future generations of Duke basketball.
"It's really nice to get those guys to come back, and then they practice with our kids," Alleva said. "It helps to pass down the culture and the good work ethic that they have, so we really want to encourage them to do that."
Before construction can begin, Duke must receive pledges for the entire $15- million cost of the project, Alleva said. Duke's Board of Trustees has given approval to continue to plan and raise funds for the facility, and Alleva said he hopes the project will be approved for construction at the Board's February meetings.
Construction is expected to last 15 months.
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