GROUND BREAKING FRIDAY FOR BEV LEWIS CENTER

FAYETTEVILLE - University of Arkansas officials will host a ground-breaking ceremony for the Bev Lewis Center for Women’s Athletics on Friday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. on the new Lady Razorback training facility site immediately south of Barnhill Arena on the Fayetteville campus. Chair of the UA Board of Trustees Tommy May, UA System President B. Alan Sugg, Chancellor Dr. John A. White, long-time University benefactors Bob and Marilyn Bogle and Director of Women’s Athletics Bev Lewis will take part in the event.

The new facility was named in honor of the University’s current Director of Women’s Athletics, Lewis, at the request of the Bogles. The Bogles, of Bentonville, are long-time University benefactors, Arkansas athletics supporters and recent recipients of the Chancellor’s Leadership Medal. The UA Board of Trustees adopted the name for the facility as well as approved the site and design at its September meeting in Little Rock.

Along with the traditional first turning of the soil for the historic project, the architectural renderings of the new Lewis Center will be unveiled to the general public for the first time. The exterior views of the Lewis Center will be shown at a reception hosted by Women’s Athletics in the Lady Razorback Museum immediately following the ground-breaking ceremony. The Lady Razorback Museum is located in the north lobby of Barnhill Arena.

The 40,000-square foot Lewis Center will be located immediately south of Barnhill Arena. The Lewis Center will house the new gymnastics team’s 15,000-square foot training area, locker room and coaches offices, as well as a 7,000-square foot weight training area for all 11 Lady Razorback teams, other coaches offices and the Women’s Athletics Department administration.

The Lewis Center is a landmark building for the University as the first athletic building designed and built specifically for the needs of female student-athletes.

Following Friday’s ground breaking, construction is slated to begin in December with foundation work to prepare the site. Scheduled for completion by December 2002, the Lewis Center will be dedicated just in time for the first season of competition by the University’s 11^th women’s varsity sport - gymnastics - which opens its inaugural season at home on Jan. 10, 2003, hosting Penn State University at Barnhill Arena.

Lewis joined the University in 1981 as the women’s cross country and track and field coach. She became the Director of Women’s Athletics in 1989, stepping away from her coaching position the following season in 1990. During her 21-year tenure at the University, she has played a pivotal role in the expansion of opportunities for women to attend the University on athletic scholarship. Lewis, a member of the NCAA Championships and Competition Cabinet, has served in the past as a member of the Southeastern Conference Executive Council. Lewis has served in leadership roles with the NCAA, including as a member of the NCAA Track and Field Committee, serving as the outdoor championships chair, and the NCAA Soccer Committee. From 1992 to 1995, she served a term as a member of the SEC Executive Committee.

During her coaching career, she led Arkansas to its first conference championship for women and was voted Southwest Conference coach of the year several times. She coached Arkansas to its first national ranking for a Lady Razorback team, as well as the first top 10 team finish at a NCAA championship. Lewis also represented the United States in international competition during her coaching career, serving as the head coach for Team USA at the 1990 World Cross Country Championships.

-- LADY RAZORBACKS --