A clearer vision for the Chippewa Champions Center

April 23, 2018

FEATURES
	Gay and Michael Franckowiak: Leaders among alumni Well before initial renderings of the Chippewa Champions Center were underway, Michael Franckowiak and Gay Ebers-Franckowiak took a lead role on the project that will transform Kelly/Shorts Stadium. READ MORE

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CHIPPEWA CHAMPIONS CENTER

"From the start, the vision for the Chippewas Champions Center has been to construct a place where we, as One CMU, come together. Certainly, it will augment the game-day football experience, but it's not just an Athletics project. This will be in use 12 months of the year and be a hub for campus events."
- Central Michigan President George E. Ross

"The Chippewa Champions Center will be a first-class facility for students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans. This project is a partnership between all areas of the university family. It will be a new home for alumni to use year-round for meetings, events and more. Imagine faculty, coaches and alumni sharing thoughts, ideas and perhaps a snack and beverage in this new center. The Advancement Board, Alumni Board, Young Alumni Board, all college advisory boards and our premier business partners will be fired up to use the facility."
- CMU Vice President of Advancement Robert Martin

"The Chippewa Champions Center is an important milestone for our football program, and it will truly put a big smile on our faces upon its completion. We sincerely hope our contribution will encourage fellow alumni to give back."
- Gay Ebers-Franckowiak

"Everybody I talk to loves to hear the One CMU vision. They love that we're doing something with that part of the stadium that will serve the entire university. They want to hear about the amenities and the impact the facility will have for the entire university."
- CMU Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford

"I often talk to our student-athletes about football being a `show me' business. The vision for the Chippewa Champions Center embodies this spirit. This project shows current and future generations of Chippewas that we are committed to investing in students at CMU by providing the resources needed for them to be successful."
- CMU football coach John Bonamego

"This new facility will have a positive effect on CMU football for decades. It will allow our players and coaches to work in a facility that is truly second to none. This facility will provide our players and coaches with every resource necessary to play winning football."
- Joe Ostman, 2018 CMU graduate and 2017 Dick Enberg Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award winner.

"You've got to promote the opportunity to give students whatever we can for them to be the best they can be. That's not just athletics, that's about the students. That's all going to be a positive with investing in the Chippewa Champions Center. As important as Advancement is now, it's going to be more important in the future. We have to go out to recruit, and the people we help now are going to help us later."
- Bill Kanine, 1982 Central Michigan graduate and member of the CMU Board of Trustees

"The Chippewa Champions Center has student-athletes excited, but it's more than a place for them. It's where alumni can come back to learn more about what is happening at CMU. It should help recruit athletes and other students, and shows we're not limiting ourselves to where we are now. This is another way of showing we're about excelling and getting ahead of the rest of the Mid-American Conference."
- Reyna Frost, CMU women's basketball player and MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player

After three months of outlining the vision for the Chippewa Champions Center at Kelly/Shorts Stadium to alumni, business leaders and Central Michigan campus partners, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said he is eager to see the project move forward.

The latest renderings from architectural and design firm Populous arrived in his office last week. The images provide a fully-formed vision for the exterior of the transformational building project in the north end zone of Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

One drawing shows a roof-top premium hospitality patio for fans to watch games and other events. Windows for offices and the premium, field-level club and 12 loge boxes with access to a patio also face the field. A slide of the opposite side shows an expansive walkway leading to the welcome center/lobby of the facility, which will house an alumni center, the CMU Advancement team, meeting spaces, locker rooms and offices for CMU Athletics. A new weight room and sports medicine complex with a rehabilitation center also will serve all 485-plus student-athletes.

"Everybody I talk to loves to hear the One CMU vision," Alford said. "They love that we're doing something with that part of the stadium that will serve the entire university. They want to hear about the amenities and the impact the facility will have for the entire university.

"This building can house events that will help recruit students," Alford said. "For university relations, alumni relations, it will help deliver their messages. Athletics is just one of the many departments that will benefit from this project. It's a CMU building."

Although the design is complete, the project remains in a fund-raising phase. A number of leadership commitments have already been made, and CMU is making progress daily with fundraising efforts, Alford said. The Chippewa Champions Center was noted Saturday evening as CMU President George E. Ross and CMU Vice President of Advancement Robert Martin launched the public phase of a $100 million "Fire Up for Excellence" capital campaign in McGuirk Arena.

CMU football coach John Bonamego said the facility plays an important role in extending the ways CMU Athletics helps foster student success.

"We demand a lot from our student-athletes on and off the field," Bonamego said. "We owe them state-of-the-art facilities that are on par with the tremendous facilities we have on campus, such as the Biosciences Building and the Engineering and Technology Building.

"It can't be understated the impact this facility will have for all of our student-athletes with a rehabilitation center, strength and conditioning space and more. This will put us at the forefront of our conference in terms of the student-athlete experience."

Alford also is pleased with the efforts of the designers from Populous. Among similar projects Populous has developed: The Boise State Football Athletic Complex, Comerica Park in Detroit, improvements at the University of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and the University of Colorado Champions Center.

The firm designed ANZ Stadium, the hub for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the Olympic Stadium in London for the 2012 Games; Heinz Field in Pittsburgh; and the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.

"We've had numerous discussions and the look and layout of the project has changed since our first conversations," Alford said. "The Populous team asks the right questions, listens and their work is bringing our shared vision to life."

CMU alumni and friends interested in hearing more and contributing to the construction of the Chippewa Champions Center can contact the Chippewa Athletic Fund office at 989-774-6680.

Related articles

• CMU announces $100 million historic fundraising campaign

Related Videos