The steel has started to go up at the site of the Wehrle Innovation Center on the University of Charleston's campus, but the opening of the new home of UC athletics will come a little later than originally planned.
The university is now looking at a grand opening ceremony likely in conjunction with Homecoming Week on Oct. 7 or 8, UC athletic director Bren Stevens said. The athletic department staff will move into its new offices after that, and Golden Eagles teams will start playing games in the new facility by Nov. 1.
UC had looked at an August opening for the $15.5 million center, which will house athletic offices and be the home court for the university's volleyball and basketball teams. Stevens said several factors led to the rescheduled opening, inclement weather included.
"The weather was a little bit of a piece of it," she said. "And, like anything else, when you get into a building project that involves the gutting of a building, there were other things that took longer, like the removal of the asbestos and having to handle that to meet all the OSHA and EPA standards.
"When you're trying to work within a confined space, there certainly were some obstacles for us to have to contend with," she added.
A full November opening would mean the UC women's volleyball team would spend another season off campus. The team's last game in Charleston this past season was on Nov. 6. The team spent 2015 at the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex in the Hillcrest Office Park on Dee Drive. Stevens said she's working to secure the site for the 2016 campaign, and praised both the facility and the Charleston Catholic High School administration for their collaboration.
"The principal, Colleen Hoyer, and the staff there, they have just been phenomenal to work with," Steven said. "They've moved games to help us to be able to accommodate events. I couldn't have asked for a better partnership."
The men's and women's basketball teams, whose 2015-16 seasons did not start until mid-November, should be able to begin 2016-17 in the Wehrle Center, though they might hold some early practices and scrimmages off campus.
The entire Golden Eagles program is anxious to move into its new home, Stevens said, after years in the Eddie King Gym, which was the oldest facility on campus. As she sees the progress made so far, Stevens believes the wait will be worth it.
"I'm over the moon," Stevens said. "When I saw the first steel beam go up ... the footers had been poured for several months and I wanted to see some steel go up. It's exciting. My staff and the student-athletes are very excited to be in a new facility. It'll be well worth being displaced for this year. Sometimes it's been challenging, but it's going to be phenomenal to be in our own building."