Gift and Sale of Land Will Provide New Intramural Complex
This article describes the plans for land donated for the new intramural facilities. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: "Gift and Sale of Land Will Provide New Intramural Complex," ECU Report, June 1995, Volume 26, No. 2, page 1.
A Greenville family has donated a tract of land that will be the site of a new intramural sports complex at East Carolina University.
William Gray Blount and Barbara K. Blount have donated six acres of property and agreed to sell the university an additional six acres at the same site for a 12-acre tract that will house a new intramural sports area containing 10 football-soccer fields, five softball diamonds, and space for lacrosse and rugby matches.
"This generous gift and sale will provide East Carolina students with a location for top-of-the-line intramural facilities," said Jim Lanier '69, '71, vice chancellor for institutional advancement at ECU. "This complex will be one of the finest of its kind and will benefit students for generations to come."
University officials expect to break ground on the complex in November and the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by late 1996. The site of the facility is near the Belk Allied Health Building and across from the university's baseball and softball stadiums.
Blount, a local developer and president of Home Builders Supply Inc. and Coldwell Banker in Greenville, said the donation of the land affords him a chance to give something back to East Carolina.
"I think the university has given a lot to my family and to Barbara's family," Blount said. "I don't think I've given back as much as I have received from East Carolina.I think it's appropriate that the university end up with this property that they need.
"I have two sons, one who graduated from East Carolina and another one enrolled at East Carolina.Certainly, I'm a big proponent of athletic involvement and this fits into that belief."
Barbara Blount echoed her husband's sentiments. "I would love to see all young people take advantage of exercise, and intramural participation is a wonderful way to do that," she said.
The bulk of the university's present intramural fields are located near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Additional fields are located near the College Hill dormitories.The move to the Allied Health site will create a large central area capable of meeting all the university's outdoor intramural needs. The entire area will be lighted, allowing the university's intramural services office the ability to use the fields at night.
The Blounts donated a six-acre tract of land appraised at $706,000 and sold an additional six acres to the state for $500,000.The estimated construction cost for the 12-acre plot is $1,612,700.
Once the intramural facility is completed, the university will convert the Ficklen fields to athletic event parking that is sorely needed, university officials said.
"The increasing demands for parking and facility construction have resulted in a significant decrease in recreational playing fields over the last five years," said Nance Mize, director of recreation services at East Carolina. "The ever-increasing demands and growth in intramural sports, club sports, and informal recreation require additional playing fields and deserve quality playing surfaces.
"The Blount property will provide both of these attributes, and enable the university to enhance the current opportunities available with the contiguous Allied Health fields."
"A little more than half of our students now participate in intramural athletics," said Dr. Al Matthews, vice chancellor for student life."As we expand, we expect even more of our students will become involved.What is also nice is its location on the student bus route."
The first phase of the project includes the construction of the access road, the playing fields, and a central building with water fountains, bathrooms, first aid, and storage space. An additional small tract near the back of the property could also be converted to playing fields later. The property will also have a natural buffer of trees surrounding the complex providing another aesthetic value to the facility.
