The Stanley H. Durwood Stadium at UMKC

Foundation gives $5 million to build new soccer stadium

By: Dan Stroud

Posted: 4/14/08

Raymond F. Beagle, Jr. and Charles J. Egan, trustees of the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation, pledged $5 million to UMKC on what was already a bright Wednesday morning.

A press conference inside Swinney Recreation Center announced the donation, which will be put toward the construction of a proposed $9 million soccer complex. It is the largest single donation in the history of UMKC Athletics.

The Stanley H. Durwood stadium is expected to be completed in time for the inaugural season of the UMKC women's soccer team in 2009.

Completion of the entire complex is anticipated by spring 2010. It will include the stadium, a premier four-lane track and a concession area. Offices and locker rooms will be built to house the men's and women's soccer teams, softball and men's and women's track and field.

"The project [complex] … is crucial to what we want to do for our campus," said UMKC Chancellor Guy Bailey. He spoke about the new project as another piece of that campus vision, along with the recent Oak Street construction and the building of the new student union.

UMKC Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Mel Tyler disscussed the benefits the new complex will offer in both an intercollegiate and an intramural sense.

"This project … not only will support athletics in general … it will also support our students," Tyler said. "This campus will be different from this point on."

Stanley Durwood was the founder of AMC Theatres, and right up to his death in 1999, he was an avid supporter of UMKC. Beagle said it was likely Durwood's check for $500,000 that allowed UMKC to complete its transition to NCAA Division I in the 1980s.

The foundation has supported not only UMKC Athletics, but through the Durwood Educational Fund, assistance has been made to the English department, the Conservatory of Music and Dance and the School of Dentistry.

More than $1.3 million have been pledged since 2005 to various university grants and initiatives by the fund.

UMKC Athletics Director Tim Hall talked about to the need to improve facilities within the program.

"With the addition of women's soccer and the success of our men's soccer program, it became apparent to us that we needed a venue to support them and their growth," Hall said. "Swinney was built for an NAIA [National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics] program. We needed to create more space for our student athletes with regard to locker rooms and offices for our coaches."

Hall said the field is also intended to be an important addition to the community around the university. It is expected that intramural events in the community such as youth track meets and soccer events will take place there.

An ability to host regional soccer championships at the high school level will offer additional revenue sources for UMKC. Hall said in conversations with Beagle and Eagan, Durwood seemed interested in projects that served both UMKC and its surrounding community.

UMKC head men's soccer coach Rick BenBen was pleased with the day's announcement.

"I think we've [men's soccer] done pretty well. We've had a lot of success," BenBen said. "But for us to jump to the next level, we had to have a facility to call our own."

The squad had recently played their home schedule on the Rockhurst University campus.

Rick Anderson, UMKC Interim Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services said the actual cost of the complex has not yet been determined.

"That's [$9 million] just an initial estimate," Anderson said. "We won't know the final cost until all the bids are in. Hopefully it will be less."

Anderson said the $4 million difference could be met in a number of ways. UMKC Athletics will continue to raise money for the project, he said.

At some point after the bid process concludes, the funds will be repaid through revenue streams to which the complex offers the most benefit. Anderson gave examples that he stressed had not yet been determined, such as the intramural programs at Swinney and Student Life.

Anderson made one point very clear when he said "under no circumstances" would there be any kind of student fee increase associated with this project.

dstroud@unews.com