Beaver Falls, Pa. - To celebrate the end of the three-year Beyond the Bend construction project with area residents and to introduce the Beaver County community to the newly improved campus, Geneva College will host Experience Geneva Night on Saturday, September 5. As part of this unprecedented event, Geneva College is waiving all admission fees to the first Golden Tornadoes football game against the Frostburg State Bobcats.
“Opening the gates of Reeves Field and letting people in with no charge is our gift to our friends and neighbors,” said Geneva College President Kenneth A. Smith. “We are excited about the new face of our campus and want to share the changes with our neighbors. As we thank the Lord for the blessings He has poured upon this campus, we rejoice that this major construction project has come to an end.”
Experience Geneva Night begins at 6 p.m. as Geneva College student government leaders will be stationed on the new pedestrian plaza to welcome visitors and show them around the new parts of the campus. The GT football game against Frostburg State begins at 7 p.m.
The honorary captain for the game will be Beaver Falls Mayor Karl Boak. As honorary captain, Mayor Boak will visit with the GTs in their locker room both before the game and at halftime, walk out onto the field with the team captains for the coin toss, and watch the game from the sideline.
The Beyond the Bend construction project was announced in the fall of 2005 and ground was broken in the fall of 2006. The major renovations have been based on the state′s realignment of Route 18. The highway once snaked through the center of campus but now traces the perimeter of the college. Campus construction has included improvements to the Reeves Field complex, including new bleachers, scoreboard, playing surface and press box. The campus has changed dramatically with the addition of a new landmark archway, entrance boulevard and roundabout which now provide a main entrance to the college.
With the completion of this month′s construction, including the resurfaced and newly configured Alumni Hall parking lot and the pedestrian plaza, the bulk of the project is complete. The pedestrian plaza includes much of former College Avenue, and extends from the front of McCartney Library to the new roundabout. Also as part of the project, landscaping crews have planted a total of 306 new shrubs, 362 perennials and ornamental grasses, and 76 new trees in the newly constructed areas. The campus has improved handicapped accessibility to parking and Alexander Hall. Other improvements are not as visible; electrical utilities were removed from poles and placed underground.
The total cost of the project, including cost increases since the project was announced, is $8.6 million. The money was raised before the completion of the project.
Geneva‘s observation of the completion of the Beyond the Bend project is not over; college, students, parents, faculty, staff, friends, neighbors, donors and those who worked on the project will celebrate the new campus in a dedication ceremony during Homecoming on Saturday, October 10.
Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
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