SDSU gets $5 Million For Indoor Practice Facility

BROOKINGS, SD -- The South Dakota State University Foundation on Monday announced a $5 million gift in the form of a challenge match that pushes total commitments to the proposed Indoor Practice and Human Performance Center to $24.3 million.

The anonymous donor providing the $5 million match wants to make sure the project moves forward on schedule, while providing an incentive for others to contribute, said Keith Mahlum, Vice President for Development of the SDSU Foundation. "The donor hopes this commitment will motivate a lot of people to invest in this project — at whatever level they are comfortable," Mahlum said. The current total comes from 39 donors.

SDSU plans to begin construction in the spring of 2013, subject to reaching its fundraising goal and getting final approval through the South Dakota Board of Regents. Based on estimates from the architectural firm, officials believe $28 million would complete the facility with most of the preferred features.

The planned facility would include an eight-lane, 300-meter track and 100 yards of synthetic turf, along with space for sports medicine, athletic training, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, expanded academic advising, observation rooms and office facilities.

Sanford Health announced a $10 million leadership gift in August to launch the fundraising effort. At the same time, SDSU announced another $8 million in leadership gifts from donors that wished to remain anonymous.

"This donor is excited by the transformational impact of this new facility — not only for athletics and our 475 student-athletes — but for the university, the city of Brookings and the region," said Director of Athletics Justin Sell. "It's an incredible boost to our fundraising efforts for this project. We need to be clear to our alumni and friends: While this puts us well down the path to getting this project done, we're not there yet. Our final hurdle is to generate support to equal this $5 million challenge match," Sell said.

The Indoor Practice and Human Performance Center is a project of It Starts with STATE: A Campaign for South Dakota State University. The Foundation is leading the six-year, $200 million campaign. With gifts and pledges from nearly 22,000 different donors, It Starts with STATE has already exceeded its goal. The campaign will conclude December 31, 2012.

Courtesy: South Dakota State University