Students, parents, and teachers couldn’t help but notice the major improvements to campus facilities as they returned to Lovett for the 2015-16 school year. The completion of the 40,000 square-foot LEED Gold-certified Murray Athletic Center and renovations to Lovett’s Kilpatrick Stadium can be attributed to finishing the largest capital campaign in school history on June 30, 2015, with $94 million raised.
Our Defining Decade: A Campaign for Lovett, 2005-2015, enabled the school to create 17 new spaces, renovate 8 spaces, and build and improve 135,481 square-feet of space on campus. In addition, a large portion of campaign dollars raised (roughly $28.6 million) will be dedicated to Lovett’s endowment.
A strong endowment is the “story behind the story” at the most successful schools, universities, and cultural institutions across the country. The institutions that set the standards of quality, push the frontiers of innovation, and sustain greatness over generations are, almost without exception, those with the strongest endowments.
The Lovett community has built an extraordinary school through the talent and commitment of visionary leaders, gifted educators, and dedicated families since 1926. Thus far, Lovett’s endowment has played only a modest role in the success of the school. While schools everywhere recognize a “best practice” of drawing 10 percent of their annual budgets from endowed funds, Lovett’s endowment provides only half that proportion every year. Several peer schools in Atlanta benefit from greater per-student funding from endowments than Lovett does.
Through Our Defining Decade, Lovett has been able to grow its endowment, which, in turn allows the school to:
· Invest in innovative program ideas, take risks, and continue pursuing new ways to enhance an already-great educational experience for students.
· Attract, develop, and retain the strongest faculty in an increasingly competitive environment.
· Keep Lovett accessible by controlling tuition growth and funding greater financial aid for families, including the families of our faculty and staff.
· Maintain and enhance the campus without relying as heavily on tuition or campaigns.
· Sustain a financially strong school through fluctuations in the economy and environment.
· And, most importantly, ensure that Lovett can survive and thrive for future generations of students.
In 2005, The Lovett School launched a strategic planning process to refine its vision for a school defined by a commitment to learning, character, and community. The goals set then were bold, but in the years since, the school has worked hard to make them a reality.
Thanks to the generous donors and many devoted volunteers, and all the dedicated staff, families, alumni, and friends, this campaign has exceeded all of the goals the school set so long ago, ensuring that The Lovett School remains strong today, and for decades and generations to come.
More about the new Murray Athletic Center and Kilpatrick Stadium renovations:
Located adjacent to Railey Field at the back of campus, the new LEED Gold-certified, 40,000-square-footMurray Athletic Center was just completed and will be key to providing Lovett with necessary spaces, including:
· A multipurpose room named in honor of Coach Jim Glasser for wrestling, volleyball, and cheerleading practice, to free up Glover Gym for basketball, competitions, and physical education classes;
· Student locker rooms, to provide space for team meetings, personal storage, and personal dress;
· A fitness and weight training center, to meet the increased fitness demands of our students— as well as to meet the wellness needs and improve the quality of life for our faculty and staff;
· Equipment storage, to alleviate the problem of athletic equipment being housed in inappropriate and inconvenient spaces across campus, far away from where it is used;
· Concession and restroom facilities to serve spectators attending events on Railey Field;
· Faculty/staff locker rooms; and
· Support space for faculty, staff, and coaches.
Construction began in May 2014 and was completed in July 2015.
Lovett’s Kilpatrick Stadium offers a storied and historic venue for watching the Lions. Lovett just completed renovations to the stadium, which opened up the new pedestrian plaza to views of the glorious Chattahoochee River. Renovations included:
· Retaining the stadium’s existing concrete seating, but replacing its outdated locker rooms, concessions, press box, and restrooms;
· Increasing the number of restrooms from 7 to 44;
· Doubling the aisle at the top of the stairs in width; and
· Increasing the openings from the plaza to the seating almost sevenfold, eliminating the bottlenecks and the cramped feeling at home sporting events.
The cost of construction of the Murray Athletic Center, renovations to Kilpatrick Stadium and the Hite Wellness Center, and a pedestrian plaza and turnaround was $17.4 million.
