Bowling Green State University Athletics
Ground is Broken for Sebo Athletic Center
December 06, 2005 | General
Dec. 6, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - What started out as a dream more than four years ago, took a major step toward reality Friday.
Ground was broken at the north end of Perry Stadium for the Sebo Athletic Center, an $8.7-million dollar facility, which will benefit over 400 athletes for all 18 intercollegiate sports at Bowling Green.
The projected completion date is February 2007.
"This project did spring forth from the grass roots," said Dr. Sidney Ribeau, BGSU's president. "Every position at the university, all 120,000 of our alums, every student-athlete, every student who walks through the door at Bowling Green State University has a vested interest in this facility.
"At BGSU, we develop the whole person, the mind, the body and the soul. This facility will give us an opportunity to take a giant step forward in providing the best resources for our student-athletes, so that they can become the best they can possibly be, in every aspect of their lives as athletes as well as students."
So far, a total of 79 individual or corporate donors have contributed $5.2 million for the project. Bob and Karen Sebo made the major gift of $3.5 million. Ten donors have contributed at least $100,000.
"There's an awful lot of planning and conversation that goes into making something go. But this is like turning the switch. It's on and we're ready to go," Bob Sebo said. "It's going to be a show-stopper."
A 1958 graduate of BGSU, Sebo said that initial discussions about a student-athlete center started midway through Urban Meyer's first year as BG's head football coach in 2001. The project started to take shape about two years ago.
"I can't tell you how enthusiastic I am about how this athletic center fits into the entire program," he said. "In Division I, you have to be strong and well-conditioned in order to compete, in every athletic program. This is very important to me, because a good athletic program benefits the entire university.
"This facility will help us to recruit top-notch student-athletes and then prepare them as both students and as athletes. Having a winning program helps generate happy alums and happy students that become happy alums."
Bowling Green's three major athletic facilities -- Perry Stadium, Anderson Arena and the Ice Arena -- all were built in the 1960s. The Student Recreation Center and the Perry Field House have been completed since then, but the Sebo Athletic Center is the first building in 40 years to be constructed exclusively for intercollegiate athletics.
"I know our student-athletes are greatly appreciative of what this building will mean to them in terms of the facilities enhancement," said Paul Krebs, BG's athletics director.
"It's about the Falcons of tomorrow," said Teddy Piepkow, the president of Bowling Green Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. A senior, Piepkow was a captain on the football team this fall.
"It's going to be a great opportunity for the football team and all the student-athletes."
Mike Wilcox, a former All-American lacrosse player at Bowling Green, is now a member of the university's Board of Trustees. As a student, Wilcox was involved in the Student Recreation Center project. Now he's one of the major donors for the Sebo project.
"It's going to be a world-class facility," Wilcox said. "The theme for the Rec Center was something for everybody. Here it kind of follows along with something for every athlete."
With the construction under way, Wilcox said raising the remainder of the money should be easier.
"Now that we've got a hole in the ground, people are going to get excited about it and step forward," Wilcox said. "We're just the tip of the iceberg here. We'll be in good shape."
The project, covering approximately 42,500 square feet over three stories, will provide modern sports medicine/rehabilitation facilities; strength-training facilities; offices for the football coaches; teaching space for coaches and players; video equipment and viewing room; team meeting rooms; a coaches' conference room; and an outdoor balcony overlooking Perry Field.
