December 1, 2004

THE HAROLD ALFOND FOUNDATION PLEDGES $1.25 MILLION TO THOMAS COLLEGE
 Gift to Aid in Field House Construction

WATERVILLE, ME—Thomas College announces the receipt of a $1.25 million challenge from the Harold Alfond Foundation for construction of a $4.6 million student recreation and athletic facility. When the match has been met, the gift will constitute the largest grant ever received by the college for facilities construction.

“Mr. Alfond has been very generous to Thomas and to central Maine for many years,” said Conrad Ayotte, chairman of the Thomas College Board of Trustees. “This most recent gift will enable the college to attain a higher level of distinction in everything we do and will be the critical element in meeting our enrollment growth goals.”

The facility, to be named the Harold Alfond Field House, will accommodate student needs generated by a growing enrollment, expanded intercollegiate athletics and a developing intramural program. Construction is expected to begin in 2005.

The 38,000 square-foot field house will be the centerpiece of Thomas’s 70-acre campus and will feature: (click here for architectural drawings)

·        A three-court surface with synthetic flooring

·        An elevated jogging track

·        A comprehensive fitness center

·        A multipurpose aerobic exercise room

·        Reception area and lounge

·        Men’s and women’s locker rooms, a training room, administrative offices, and

·        Equipment storage space

The new facility will triple the number of varsity, club and intramural teams that can practice or hold games simultaneously and will be built with eventual expansion in mind. It will also greatly enhance Thomas’s sports management curriculum—the second most popular major on campus. 

Thomas currently enrolls more than 600 students in its full-time undergraduate division and several hundred more in its evening and graduate programs.  More than two-thirds of its day students participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, club and intramural sports.

Division champion baseball and softball programs at the college will be joined by men’s and women’s lacrosse in the spring of 2005.  Thomas’s 12 NCAA Division III varsity teams also include soccer, basketball, field hockey, tennis, golf and volleyball.

Thomas is a private, career-oriented college that prepares its undergraduates for careers in business, technology and education and guarantees employment within 90 days of graduation. The graduate and continuing education divisions at the college serve a variety of professionals in central Maine who typically attend class while working in their respective communities. Seventy-five percent of the college’s student body hails from Maine, and 88 percent of its 2004 graduates stayed in Maine to work.