The
Kennedy Center is Augsburg's newest athletic facility. Completed in 2006, the facility is an addition on the south side of Si Melby Hall, and features a wrestling training facility, fitness center, classrooms, meeting space and offices for the Athletic and Health and Physical Education departments.
The Kennedy Center was built as part of the college's Access to Excellence campaign in the summer of 2006. Lead donations for the $5 million project came from a $2 million donation from the building's namesakes,
Dean '75 and Terry Kennedy, and in a $1 million donation from
Alan Rice.
Dean Kennedy, an independent businessman, was an All-American wrestler at Augsburg and was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. Kennedy was the first four-time All-Lutheran Tournament champion in the event's history, and was a co-captain of an NAIA national runner-up Augsburg squad. He claimed Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles twice and was named MIAC Tournament Most Valuable Wrestler honors twice.
Alan Rice, a National Wrestling Hall of Fame member and Minnesota native, gave his $1 million gift in memory of his wife,
Gloria, who passed away in 2001. Rice has spent a lifetime involved in competing, coaching and promoting amateur wrestling. He was a two-time high school state champion, two-time Big Ten champion and an All-American at Minnesota, and competed for more than a decade at the Olympic level. He coached the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Alan and Gloria formed the Minnesota Amateur Wrestling Club in 1966, which has become one of the most prominent in the country in developing Olympic-level wrestlers.
The main entrance of the Kennedy Center, along South 23rd Avenue, serves as the entrance to both the Kennedy Center and Si Melby Hall. The entrance is open and airy, with three stories of glass facing Murphy Square Park. Stairs lead up to the main Melby/Kennedy concourse and the
Lute Olson Hall of Champions.
The
Lute Olson Hall of Champions is a multimedia display that features each of Augsburg's 18 intercollegiate varsity sports. Each current team photo is displayed, along with action photos and memorabilia from each sport. There are two monitors within the display, which will feature multimedia presentations for each sport.
The display is named for Augsburg alumnus
Lute Olson '56, the longtime men's basketball coach at the University of Arizona who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Olson was an Augsburg student from 1952-56, playing three sports (football, basketball, baseball) while earning a double major in history and physical education. Olson was named the school's Honor Athlete in 1956, received the Augsburg Distinguished Alumni award in 1986 and was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. He coached for more than 30 years on the major-college level (Long Beach State 1973-74, Iowa 1974-83, Arizona 1983-2008), and won more than 750 games. Olson's teams reached the NCAA Final Four five times, with Arizona winning the national championship in 1997.
To the right of the Lute Olson Hall of Champions is the
Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Center, one of the centerpieces of the Kennedy Center project. Outside the facility is the
Jeff Swenson Wall of Fame celebrating the long and storied history of Augsburg's wrestling program. Adjacent to the facility are offices for the Augsburg wrestling staff and a conference room.
The upper level of the Kennedy Center, with classrooms, offices and student lounges, is the
LaVonne Johnson Peterson Health and Physical Education Center. Traveling up the stairs from the main lobby, visitors are greeted with a lounge, a relaxing area with comfortable chairs for students and visitors.
There are new offices in the upper level for both coaches and Health and Physical Education faculty, along with a student work area. The office suite also contains a conference room.
Down the hallway on the upper level is a student study area, with Internet hookups for computer usage and both individual cubicles and group study tables.
One of the highlights of the upper level is the new physiology lab, which contains treadmills and exercise bicycles which are used for studying exercise physiology. The facility also contains a unique piece of equipment -- the "Bod Pod" -- which is used to assess the body composition of individuals, measuring and tracking body fat and lean mass using patented air displacement technology.
The upper level also features three classrooms, each equipped with the latest in video and computer technology for teaching use. The classrooms feature wheeled tables and chairs, making for easy conversion for a variety of uses, from classes to team meetings and special events.
Two of the classrooms have a movable wall between them, enabling the rooms to be converted to one large room, if space is needed for large classes, seminars or special events.
The LaVonne Johnson Peterson Health and Physical Education Center is named for
Lavonne Johnson Peterson '50, one of the pioneers of women's sports at Augsburg. Peterson taught for 30 years at Augsburg, as director of physical education for women and as associate professor of physical education. "Mrs. Pete," as she was known by her students, also coached a pioneering women's basketball team, the "Auggiettes," for 18 seasons (1950-68), producing a tremendous 154-6 record in games against other local colleges and Minneapolis Park Board teams. In fact, Augsburg had a 13-season unbeaten streak during Peterson's tenure as coach.
In 1979, Augsburg awarded Peterson the first Women's Distinguished Athletic Service Award, and a year later, the Distinguished Faculty Award. In 1989, she was part of the first class of women inducted into Augsburg's Athletic Hall of Fame. When the women's locker room was competed at Si Melby Hall in 1979, a coaches' suite in the facility was named in Peterson's honor.
