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Recently, Rutgers Athletics touted the donation of $15,000,000, the largest individual gift in school history. Gary and Barbara Rodkin donated the fund that will be the foundation for a complex that will house soccer and lacrosse facilities, and athletic administrative offices. The centerpiece of that project will be the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Center for Academic Success. Our own Bob Cancro shared that information with us at the time it occurred. With that donation, the school is closing in on meeting the $100M goal set in 2016 when the Rutgers Big Ten Build Fund was begun by then-new Athletic Director Pat Hobbs. In the two years, Rutgers has raised a total of $92M of the $100M goal. $67M of that is through private donations.
Since that time, we have been seeing the fruits of that work, with the new Frederick E. Grunninger Class of 1953 Baseball and Softball Complex and the Marco Battaglia Football Practice Complex both already in operation. In November, Rutgers held the groundbreaking for the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center. So things really are happening, and the old naysayers really have been silenced by the activity. The best part is that none of the amazing construction going on is impacting the school’s pocketbook, as the funds are not from the school, but through donations and state bonds.
The shovels are in the ground and the @RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center is officially a reality! #RSportsMed #RB1GBuild pic.twitter.com/UpkuxEkkPS
— Rutgers Basketball (@RutgersMBB) November 1, 2016
For those who (like me) do not live close to the campus, and can not just pop over to see how things are progressing, Rutgers has a solution. They have set up a live feed of the construction site, so that everyone who wishes can follow the progress as it goes forward.
This is a great opportunity to see real-time progress on the site, aside from the great updates Bob provides. While major construction work will not begin in earnest until spring, that season is fast approaching, so get ready everyone, the Sleeping Giant is stirring! Here is the video link to watch progress moving forward:
To read more about the live video feed, click here. To donate to the Rutgers Big Ten Build, click here.