The college and the athletic department celebrated the start of construction of a new locker room facility on the Bethel campus with a groundbreaking Oct. 8 as part of the annual Fall Festival.
Representatives of the college and project contractors McCownGordon Construction of Wichita, along with coaches, and current student-athletes, joined athletic and other alumni and friends, on campus for Fall Fest, to mark the occasion.
The facility has been in dreaming and planning mode for a number of years, since it became clear the existing locker room in Goering Hall, which mainly serves football, is too small.
In addition, basement flooding was becoming a persistent problem.
The Bethel board approved moving ahead with planning in 2019. In early 2020, Bethel’s advancement office sought funding from several foundations.
The results included a $1 million matching grant for a new softball building (completed in fall 2020) and a new football locker room.
Plans for the facility include features that will serve each of the 19 varsity sports in which Bethel competes.
It will house more than 110 football lockers, along with laundry facilities, a team huddle area, two break-out rooms for film viewing and a second-floor game-viewing suite.
“This building is a much-needed addition to our Thresher Stadium complex,” said Bethel President Jon C. Gering. “It builds on the success of past years and is a commitment to the promising future of Thresher athletics.”
Bethel College is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Known for academic excellence, Bethel ranks at #14 in the Washington Monthly list of “Best Bachelor’s Colleges,” and #24 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of “Best Regional Colleges Midwest,” both for 2022-23. Bethel is the only Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu
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