by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
The College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph plans to build athletic fields by the Renner House, the college president’s house, which is located on College Avenue across the street from the main entrance of St. Ben’s.
Athletic Director Glen Werner said the project is expected to cost $12 million, with $9 million coming from bonds and the rest from fundraising from family donors, sponsors and other sources.
The seven fields, which athletes hope to use by fall 2017, will be for soccer, softball, lacrosse, rugby and other club sports. They will be used by the soccer team first in the fall and the softball team in spring 2018.
“Besides providing a host of wellness and fitness opportunities for our students, this is going to be a great retention tool,” Werner said. “A lot of our students who are coming from the Twin Cities or larger metropolitan areas have these kinds of facilities in high school. The biggest key is that it really puts us on the map with everyone else.”
The plans include both natural grass and artificial turf soccer and softball fields, three large intramural fields, an event center with locker and training rooms, ample parking for team buses and a large drop-off area for buses and more.
Werner said there are currently about 20 club teams. She estimated about 500-plus athletes will use the fields. That includes competing teams, tournament play and others.
“Twenty percent of our students are either club athletes or collegiate athletes, and upwards of 50 percent participate in programs that will be held at the new fields,” Werner said. “Right now, we just don’t have the space for the demands of the programming we are experiencing.”
Planning for the fields began about seven or eight years ago. Werner said CSB has been headed for these changes for some time, with lots of master planning. She said she feels the timing of the execution of the plans is playing out well for student options.
The athletic fields surrounding the CSB president’s house are reflective of the current dynamics of the campus.
Werner said CSB President Mary Dana Hinton has been extraordinary in her support of athletics.
She said Hinton has recognized that athletics is as important as academics, fine arts, study abroad, international and other programs which exist at the college.
She said she believes adding the athletic field complex and the city building the new government center are both occurring at a time when the City of St. Joseph is growing in a healthy and appropriate way. CSB leaders hope to work with Mayor Rick Schultz to possibly involve local athletes access to the fields.
Werner, a CSB graduate, began her position at CSB last July 1 and said she feels the year has gone well.
“The personal and professional welcome has been what I expected but still a phenomenal experience,” Werner said.
She said she loves the intensity of her position and feels it’s similar to previous work she’s done.
“You don’t win every game you want to win, but we had a great year and finished third in the all sports races in our conference,” Werner said. “That is a great outcome.”
She said she has been pleasantly surprised how Blazer student athletes connect into larger circles on campus and life in the area.
Werner said it’s easy to get caught up in what each person needs to be doing, so connecting all the dots for all of them to be pulling in the same direction is always a challenge.
“I think it’s a push for all of us to do one more thing that might be slightly outside our scope of work that really connects this community,” Werner said. “For example, going to the nursing-pinning ceremony for seniors. It has very little to do with athletics, but so many student athletes are graduating nursing majors. It’s really showing support outside of their game.”
Werner said she finds it fascinating to be able to reach out to the nuns who she feels really offer support. There are a couple of specific ones who she enjoys having lunch with at the Gorecki Center and is able to discuss with them how competition, fierceness and intensity fit into the Benedictine values. She said the nuns offer that extra push and do it with such love.
“To know you have their support is really what makes this community come together because ultimately all we want for one another is success,” Werner said.
The environment on the CSB campus is reflective of her years as a student at CSB.
“What everywhere else in business calls culture, is called community here,” Werner said. “They have been able to, (throughout) the decades, just continue to replicate this supportive, loving, caring environment that also teaches a sense of urgency to execute projects and the ability to run a business that incorporates the Benedictine values of valuing one another, valuing opinion and valuing consensus. That’s what makes this so much fun.”
Plans for a $12 million College of St. Benedict athletic fields project, located by the president’s house, include building seven fields – both grass and artificial – for soccer, softball and other sports, as well as an event center with locker and training rooms, with sufficient parking for team buses and more.
College of St. Benedict Athletic Director Glen Werner reviews plans for the new athletic fields that will be built by Renner House, the college president’s house. The project is expected to cost $12 million with the fields being available for use by fall 2017.
