2008 Woodie Awards
Athletics receives $1M gift from anonymous donor
Matt Pavao
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
11/27/07 - After serving as the home of the University of Rhode Island baseball team for 117 years, Bill Beck Field will be getting a face lift thanks to an anonymous $1 million donation to URI athletics.
"This is our largest single gift to athletics ever," athletic director Thorr Bjorn said. "We're always looking to bring in new dollars to help us upgrade things. All [the donor] wanted to do was help."
University officials know the donor's identity but he wished to remain anonymous. Bjorn would only say that the donor is a huge fan of the baseball program.
"It's someone who really truly wants to help and came to us and said, 'tell me what you need and I'll see if I can help you get there,'" Bjorn said.
The donation will allow the university to install a new synthetic surface on Bill Beck Field, a sod and sprinkler system for the outfield and an indoor batting facility for both the baseball and softball teams
Head baseball coach Jim Foster was also very thankful for the donor's generosity that will directly benefit his program.
"He was someone I've known for awhile and he was very generous," Foster said. "I'm very enthusiastic and I talk to a lot of people about the program and some people realize what it takes to be a successful program."
Bjorn said gifts such as these enable the Athletics Department to upgrade its facilities.
"If we hadn't received the gift, we wouldn't be in position to do this," he said. "We're always looking to bring in new dollars to help us upgrade things. It was really sitting down with [Foster] and myself and the donor, and [Foster] said these are the most important [upgrades]."
Foster said the new synthetic surface for Bill Beck Field will not only tremendously help the program, but it well help in the maintenance of the field.
"Everyone's going to it nationwide," he said. "You can play on it 24-hours a day and won't have a problem. We used to have to work on the field for an hour before the game and an hour after the game. There are better things for the players to be doing than that."
"This is our largest single gift to athletics ever," athletic director Thorr Bjorn said. "We're always looking to bring in new dollars to help us upgrade things. All [the donor] wanted to do was help."
University officials know the donor's identity but he wished to remain anonymous. Bjorn would only say that the donor is a huge fan of the baseball program.
"It's someone who really truly wants to help and came to us and said, 'tell me what you need and I'll see if I can help you get there,'" Bjorn said.
The donation will allow the university to install a new synthetic surface on Bill Beck Field, a sod and sprinkler system for the outfield and an indoor batting facility for both the baseball and softball teams
Head baseball coach Jim Foster was also very thankful for the donor's generosity that will directly benefit his program.
"He was someone I've known for awhile and he was very generous," Foster said. "I'm very enthusiastic and I talk to a lot of people about the program and some people realize what it takes to be a successful program."
Bjorn said gifts such as these enable the Athletics Department to upgrade its facilities.
"If we hadn't received the gift, we wouldn't be in position to do this," he said. "We're always looking to bring in new dollars to help us upgrade things. It was really sitting down with [Foster] and myself and the donor, and [Foster] said these are the most important [upgrades]."
Foster said the new synthetic surface for Bill Beck Field will not only tremendously help the program, but it well help in the maintenance of the field.
"Everyone's going to it nationwide," he said. "You can play on it 24-hours a day and won't have a problem. We used to have to work on the field for an hour before the game and an hour after the game. There are better things for the players to be doing than that."