Evangel University’s new athletic arena and training center are about to open

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An athletic facility still under construction on the northwest portion of Evangel University’s campus is nearly complete, with a partial move scheduled for this week.

The 66,000-square-foot building, recently named AGFinancial Arena, is the new home to the institution’s football, basketball and volleyball programs.

The $22.6 million project was funded by private donations, including a $10 million “matching challenge” offered by the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby and Mardel. AGFinancial provided a “significant sponsorship,” which was described as a capstone gift.

“Our campus is relatively young, a lot of new buildings over the years, but the one area we never paid attention to was athletics. It’s amazing how successful our athletics has been, even with these old facilities,” said Michael Kolstad, chief of staff and executive vice president of Evangel.

Kolstad said alumni and supporters are very excited and that the new facility will help recruit new members.

“It’s clear that the students (athletes) are very excited about this type of facility, but it’s also a focal point and a celebration for our entire student body,” Kolstad said. “We wanted something that would touch everyone on one campus. We’ll have events there besides just athletics … We could have a chapel service there. We could have concerts there.”

Kolstad said the university will not have any debt with the building. He added: “We don’t even know what it can do yet.”

The facility was originally intended as two separate projects, an arena and a sports hall, but they were redesigned as one large project with first-class facilities.

The building will also be used as a meeting place for campus and community events.

“As we got closer to getting serious about it, we realized there was a cost savings to having everything under one roof,” said Shawn Fink, a contractor for Evangel who served as the owner’s representative for the project. “What we have now is one building in three parts.”

Located at Pine Lane and Park Drive on the campus of the private Christian institution, the southern portion will be called the Randy Rowden Training Center and will primarily serve the football and soccer programs.

The center features a fitness room, locker rooms, offices for coaches and the athletic director, and a sports medicine center.

“That part of the building has a covered patio overlooking the field,” Fink said.

The field will be used for soccer practices and games and football training. However, Evangel’s home games are usually played at Nixa High School.

On average, the football selection consists of 130 players and the soccer selection consists of a total of 70 men and women.

The northern part of the facility includes a gym and regulation basketball and volleyball courts. There are also locker rooms for the home team and visitors.

“The arena itself will serve 1,425 people in bleachers and seats, plus some standing room plus four box suites plus the presidential suite,” Fink said. “Give or take, we’re around 1,600 people in that facility.”

The third part of the building is the main lobby and concourse. There is room for concessions, restrooms, and a store to purchase university and team apparel.

Fink said the lobby and concourse can be used for medium-sized gatherings, including banquets, with enough space for 100 people or a standing event for 250 people.

This facility will add almost 260 parking spaces to the campus.

The project started in April 2023 and will be completed before classes start on August 28.

“The Randy Rowden Training Center actually opened this week,” Fink said. “We accelerated the schedule for that part of the building because of the football team and the fact that they’re actually starting their season now.”

The complex has state-of-the-art access control and cameras.

“There are cameras everywhere, inside and outside the building,” Fink said. “We’ve got every hallway covered.”

More: Southwest Missouri Healthcare Education Alliance Expands with Evangel

Fink said a large LED screen will be installed outside the building, in a student plaza. He described it as a space for “pre-game” or tailgating activities.

“That’s right in front of the designated food truck parking area. We have utilities and parking for food trucks,” he said.

Want to go?

Evangel University has scheduled a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new AGFinancial Arena at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, October 4, as part of Homecoming.

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