Saint Vincent plans to debut new multi-purpose athletic center in summer 2023

Saint Vincent College plans to break ground this spring on an $18 million indoor athletic and recreation complex that could be ready for use by the summer of 2023.

The Dunlap Family Athletic and Recreation Center, named for the project’s lead donors, will encompass 82,200 square feet under roof, including an artificial turf practice field, a recreational track and a set of multi-purpose sport courts.

It will supplement facilities available at the Robert S. Carey Student Center, which houses the Unity college’s competition basketball and volleyball courts and a weight room.

The Dunlap center will be “an additional space for recreation and practice,” said Dave Hollenbaugh, the college’s vice president of institutional advancement.

For the college’s varsity athletes, he said, “There will be a significant amount of indoor turf for practicing in inclement weather.”

The new center will enhance facilities available for intramural athletics and, for general recreation, will accommodate everything from walking and jogging to Frisbee and pickup games of volleyball and basketball, Hollenbaugh said.

Other amenities will include a fitness room, an athletic training center for medical therapy and treatment, a healthy cafe and meeting rooms.

“This new Dunlap Family Center will deliberately and explicitly meet the needs of the students at Saint Vincent College,” the college’s president, the Rev. Paul Taylor, said in a news release. “It was designed carefully with input from students and with attention to the latest technology and kinesiologic science.

“We are very grateful to Ed and Anna Dunlap, Tim and Teri Dunlap and their families for their generous gift and confidence in us. Their investment in Saint Vincent College and in the lives of our students will bear much fruit today and in the generations ahead.”

Over the years, the Dunlap family has contributed to several major capital projects at Saint Vincent. Ed Dunlap is the founder and chairman of Canonsburg-based commercial roofing and flooring contractor CentiMark Corp. His son, Tim, is the president and CEO of the company.

In addition to private donations, funding for the new athletic center includes a $1.5 million grant through the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

The center will be constructed on the college’s little-used No. 5 athletic field, at the south end of a parking lot that also serves the Fred M. Rogers Center.