BEREA, OHIO -- The new training facility for varsity athletics at Baldwin Wallace University will be named in honor of the late Robert D. “Bob” Packard ’65, who coached BW football for 34 years, including 21 as head coach. During his career, Packard participated in more than half of the all-time Yellow Jacket wins and his 156 head coaching victories were one more than his coach and mentor, the legendary Lee Tressel ’48.
In addition to training facilities and locker rooms, the $3 million project to expand and renovate the former Bagley Hall will house the coaches’ offices for football and lacrosse for men and women. The project is slated for July completion.
“We are deeply grateful to the trustees, alumni and friends of Baldwin Wallace, who have made it possible for us to add this much-needed enhancement for our athletics programs and, at the same time, to honor the memory of such an exceptional person,” said BW President Robert Helmer. “Bob Packard touched thousands of the lives of thousands of students as he went about the work of shaping teams and molding young men. I think he would be pleased to see this facility doing the same for generations of student athletes in years to come.”
Highlights of the new Packard Athletic Center will include:
- A dramatic new entrance and lobby and display areas
- Addition of a 3,500 sq. ft. weight room to serve all varsity teams
- A 1,500 sq. ft. classroom that is large enough to accommodate the entire football team, which can be divided into three smaller meeting rooms
- Coaches’ offices for football and lacrosse
- Second-floor conference rooms,
- Locker rooms and team showers to accommodate 175 football players
- Additional equipment, training and laundry areas.
At the same time the Packard Athletic Center is taking shape, an $800,000 investment in renovating the locker, shower and training areas for women and men’s soccer, track and lacrosse in George Finnie Stadium and eliminating the need for visiting teams to cross Bagley Road during contests. Both projects also will increase the availability of facilities in the Lou Higgins Center more for the rest of the BW community.
As a football coach, Bob Packard’s teams went 156-54-2, including six Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and two trips to NCAA post-season competition. Overall, he was part of nine OAC titles teams, five NCAA appearances and the 1978 Division III national championship.
But as the BW Board of Trustees noted while approving the name for the new facility, “more important than his career statistics was the impact Bob Packard had on those around him. An outstanding teacher and tireless worker, he devoted countless hours to the development of his team of players and his students throughout a career marked by honesty, integrity, care and compassion.”
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
