Athletic Center already breaking records

The Robert and Frances Plecker Athletic Performance Center, Harrison Hall and the new physics and chemistry building will open in time for use in the fall.

The Athletic Performance Center received the largest amount of donations ever made to a JMU project.
The center is named for the Plecker family, who were lead donors, according to spokesman Andy Perrine of university communications and marketing.

Over $7 million was given for the building, including two of the largest single gifts in JMU history, by Charles E. Estes of Richmond and the Pleckers of Harrisonburg.

The center is 48,000 square feet and will provide an academic center for varsity athletes, including a computer lab and tutoring space. There will also be a sports medicine complex, strength training area, football locker room and coaches’ offices.

On the other side of campus, Steven Whisnant, head of the physics department said the new physics and chemistry building should be completed and turned over to the departments around April 1.

The building will mainly occupy labs, but there is some classroom space. Larger classes will still be held in CISAT and HHS, and seminars will be held in the College Center, according to Whisnant.

"The new building provides some much needed space," Whisnant said. He said although the physics department will be receiving more room in the new building, all the faculty offices will be filled and the labs will all be used.

Whisnant said faculty from the departments will move labs and offices to the new building so they will be ready for classes by the time the fall semester begins.

Harrison Hall is scheduled to be finished in time for classes to begin in the fall. It will house SMAD, SCOM, the Institute of Technical and Scientific Communication, the University Writing Program and offices of the College of Arts and Letters. The building will include classrooms, faculty offices, a television studio and control room.