Kroger Donates $3M to University of Louisville Indoor Baseball Facility

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/27/21

The Kroger Louisville Division announced this week that it is donating $3 million toward the construction of an indoor baseball practice facility at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky. The facility will be built onto the campus’ Jim Patterson Stadium.

The gift will come in yearly $300,000 installments over 10 years. The university is still seeking funds for the facility, which will cost an estimated $12 million. It has not yet established a timetable for construction, but design plans indicate a 28,000–35,000-square-foot facility featuring an indoor artificial turf surface, a pitching lab, and sufficient space for an entire infield.

“Kroger has made an amazing difference in the community, across campus, and by supporting our student athlete experience,” said Vince Tyra, University of Louisville Vice President/Director of Athletics. “We have a number of shared values that led us to today’s announcement of Kroger’s lead gift toward an indoor performance facility for our baseball team.”

“We are proud to announce our gift of $3 million to be donated toward the construction of the new indoor baseball practice facility here at Jim Patterson Stadium,” said Ann Reed, Division President of Kroger Louisville. “This new facility will help ensure the best recruits and talent come right here to Louisville.”

Other Kroger donations to University of Louisville athletics include sponsorship of the Governor’s Cup trophy (awarded to the winner of the yearly Kentucky-Louisville football game) and $10,000 in scholarships annually since 1994.

“This is a great day for the Louisville baseball program,” said the university’s head baseball coach, Dan McDonnell. “Our program is all about excellence, a value that we share with Kroger. Excellence in the classroom, on the diamond, and in this great community. We want to express our gratitude to Ann Reed and the Kroger family for their commitment to Louisville baseball and our continued pursuit of excellence.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Schools In Focus: Talking Campus Security with Mitch McKinley

    Furnishing the Future: Adaptive Solutions for Modern Learning Spaces

    On this episode of Schools in Focus, we'll talk about the role that classroom furniture plays in creating adaptive, flexible learning spaces. Our guest is Wesley Edmonds, the Director of Workplace, Adaptive Solutions at OFS.

  • Pangram Secures Funding for AI Detection Technology

    Pangram, which provides technology that detects AI-generated text, recently announced that it has secured nearly $4 million in pre-seed and seed funding, according to a news release. The most recent round of investments, totaling $2.7 million, come on top of the pre-existing seed fund of $1.25 million.

  • Key Considerations for Office-to-Higher-Education Facility Conversions

    Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, office-to-alternative-use conversions have become a recurring subject of urban development discourse. Office utilization rates across major U.S. cities remain below 50%, with vacancy rates exceeding 27% in San Francisco and 16% in New York. Higher education facilities present programmatic and spatial use cases that align readily with the typical characteristics of commercial office buildings.

  • Design Firm Populous Acquires Fentress Architects

    Design firm Populous, which specializes in sports and entertainment venues, recently announced its acquisition of Fentress Architects, based in Denver, Colo., according to a news release. Fentress’ primary focus is aviation projects and public buildings like museums, convention centers, and government facilities

Digital Edition