LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Thorntons Academic Center of Excellence held its grand opening Aug. 24 at the University of Louisville at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
Work on the $18.5 million facility for student athletes began in May 2015.
Thorntons Inc. made the lead $3 million gift for the center, and with Cardinals’ fans, helped raise approximately $6 million for their matching gift. Through a partnership with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, the school raised a total of $2.5 million. The law firm of Stites and Harbison committed $2 million to the project.
The facility houses academic operations and provides a central location for all student athletes and academic staff.
The more than 40,000-square-foot center features tutorial areas, a high-performance training table to feed the athletes, computer laboratories and office and classroom space that will serve more than 750 athletes across the Cardinals’ 23 sports on a daily basis. A video wall greets visitors upon entry in the Republic Bank Atrium, and students can find segmented spaces throughout the facility.
The 204-seat auditorium is equipped with an 18.5-foot-by-10.5-foot screen and projection system.
“It may be the finest facility that we’ve built and certainly one of the most important projects we’ve taken on during my time at Louisville,” said Tom Jurich, vice president and director of athletics.
“It’s a student-first building that touches all 23 of our sports programs,” he said. “We sincerely appreciate the generosity of many people that invested in the future of so many student athletes’ lives to create probably the finest academic center in the nation. I want to particularly thank Matt Thornton, his family and his company for taking the lead on making all of this possible.”
Based in Louisville, Thorntons operates 183 convenience stores that provide food, beverages and fuel in six states: Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.
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