As the University of Charleston marks the beginning of a new era with Saturday's dedication of the Russell and Martha Wehrle Innovation Center, it sets itself up to make a move into its future.
The center, which will hold a new arena for the UC basketball and volleyball teams, will also be home to all of the university's athletics offices and plenty of resources for students to share ideas with one another. It's an upgrade that has been a long time coming for the school.
"It's something we've been missing," athletic director Bren Stevens said. "A lot of schools in our region and in our conference have made big improvements and updates to their facilities, and we just hadn't done much yet.
"Now, it's definitely going to be different. This is going to be something that all of us at UC - from administrators, to coaches and student-athletes, to students and faculty - can look at and be really proud of."
The dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be open to the public at 10:30 a.m. and is the first opportunity for members of the community to get a look at the facility, which cost around $18.5 million and has been under construction since January. While it won't be completed for the dedication on Saturday, crews have continued to work tirelessly to get the arena and surrounding areas ready to go in time for the Jan. 14 opening celebration that is scheduled as UC plays West Virginia Wesleyan in women's and men's basketball before a concert by the Company Stores.
The hope is that, thanks to all of the things the Wehrle Innovation Center offers, the facility can become something for everyone to turn to and utilize in different ways.
"The community is going to want to utilize this when they can," Stevens said. "This is going to be a great space on campus where people can come and hang out and collaborate and work on projects together. We want the kids to be in the building and we've really ramped this up and will have a lot of stuff going on."
On the athletic side of things, Stevens and UC's coaches expect it to be a big boon for recruiting. It's something they can be proud of and ready to show off - a big difference as Stevens looks at things now compared to when she was finishing her career as UC's volleyball coach.
"I was embarrassed at times to take people through the gym when they came in," Stevens said. "Now, hopefully, that will be the opposite for our coaches and they'll be proud to have something that they can show off to people when they come to our campus.
"We want to give the kids that want to come here a quality place where they can see themselves playing and going to school."
It will also make things simpler for those coaches to have everything in a centralized location. The offices for the coaches and administrators will be located in the Innovation Center. Rooms will be designated for meeting spaces where coaches can meet with players and watch film right in the middle of campus, where it will be easy for all parties.
"From a logistics standpoint and from being able to get into a routine, it'll be great to have everything in the building," UC football coach Pat Kirkland said. "It's an ideal place, right on campus like it is. It's going to be a great facility that can bring a lot of people together."
Things like that, and the fact that now sports like basketball and volleyball won't have to travel between campus and the Charleston Catholic Athletic Facility, are smaller details that several staff members believe will pay off in a big way for the school.
"It's going to be a great place for us to play. We think it's going to be a great environment when the fans get in there and watch games," UC men's basketball coach Dwaine Osborne said. "But the biggest thing, aside from the arena itself, is the unseen things like how we won't have to haul around equipment and laundry from place to place.
"This is finally going to be a place where our kids can call home. They can get in the gym, have their own locker room - stuff that you sometimes take for granted. It's going to be great to get in there."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.