Nearly 30 years after it opened as “Clarkson’s front door” to the world, the Cheel Campus Center and Arena is undergoing a major overhaul that will modernize the building’s infrastructure and expand its footprint to add more state-of-the-art features to enhance programmatic offerings, hockey facilities and student life at Clarkson while also providing further economic benefits to the surrounding community.
The community is invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, July 14 at 3:00 p.m. near the Golden Knight statue in front of Cheel as part of Clarkson’s Reunion Weekend activities and the Potsdam Summer Festival.
When it first opened in 1991, Cheel Campus Center and Arena served as Clarkson’s primary student center and became the home to the Golden Knights hockey program along with their numerous banners sharing their winning tradition over the last 99 years, including the three NCAA National Championships added in the last five years by the women’s team. Cheel has also become a well-known gathering place for the North Country community as a whole, as hundreds of community events and youth hockey and figure skating activities are held there annually.
The decision by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) to award $3.45 million to Clarkson’s project through the NYS Higher Education Capital Match Program (HECap) was the boost that the University needed to advance the review of bids and to hire the contractors to begin the project. At any given time during active construction, the University anticipates more than 100 workers will be employed on the project.
Combined with the fundraising to date from alumni and friends, and future matching funds to be raised, the University plans to begin phase one this summer. The first phase of this multi-phase project is to build out an addition to the front to encompass athletic and wellness facilities – including a climbing wall as an extension of the popular Munter trails — as well as serve as a hub for professional development for students interested in construction engineering and health and safety experiences.
For many alumni, the facility has fond memories as the place where they met their classmates during first-year orientation and celebrated their graduation during the spring commencement exercises. It remains a key location where students socialize, eat, study, and host events and meetings, as well as come to cheer for the student athletes on the men’s and women’s NCAA Division 1 hockey programs.
When all phases are completed, more than 30,000 square feet will be added to the building. The project will be implemented over several construction phases to ensure the space is at least partially functional at all times. The entire facility is expected to be completed before April 1, 2020 and will be among the venues for the Adirondack Global Sports Commission to use in the World University Games in 2023.
The upper level of Cheel will be renovated to include a dedicated space for our new Student Professional Development Center, where students will have the opportunity to acquire hands-on construction engineering management experience. A portion of our facilities department will move to the upper level, freeing space at our downtown campus for further economic development. Cheel’s large conference rooms will be upgraded for more efficient use of the space by our students and community members to host meetings and events.
On the main level, a state-of-the-art collegiate fitness facility for use by the entire campus community will be built. It will serve approximately 4,000 students, faculty, and staff. Nearly 50 student athletes from the men’s and women’s hockey teams will have access to state-of-the-art training facilities and fitness equipment on the basement level.
For more information about the Cheel Arena expansion and renovation, or to donate to future phases of the project, contact Steve Smalling, Director of Major Gifts, at sssmalli@clarkson.edu, or at 315-268-4368.
The HECap Program awards matching capital grants to colleges for the design, acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitee or equipping of a facility on or near a college campus in New York State.
The late Helen Snell Cheel was the principle benefactor for the Cheel Campus Center and Arena in 1991. The naming of the facility recognized the long relationship she and her family have enjoyed with University and her personal affinity for Golden Knights hockey.
Regarded by many as among the finest college hockey facilities in the country, Cheel Arena has proved to be an ideal venue in which to watch some of the best hockey that the NCAA has to offer. From the Clarkson Men’s Hockey team’s inaugural 9-3 opening-night victory over Boston College on October 26, 1991, to the Clarkson Women’s 2-1 NCAA Tournament overtime triumph against Mercyhurst last March, the Golden Knights have supplied their loyal fans with plenty to cheer about within the spectacular confines of the 3,000-seat arena at the Cheel Campus Center. Through the first 27 seasons at Cheel, close to 1,400,000 fans have watched the Clarkson Men and Women’s teams play. The Golden Knight Men have posted a .651 winning percentage and 298 victories on their home ice since the 1991-92 campaign, while the Clarkson Women have skated to a .734 winning percentage and 203 victories through their first 15 seasons on the Cheel Arena ice.
Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world’s pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations, and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise.
[A photograph for media use is available https://www.clarkson.edu/
[News directors and editors: For more information, contact Kelly Chezum, Vice President for Marketing and External Relations at 315-268-4483 or kchezum@clarkson.edu.]