By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
While the Barton Community College athletic department has received the blessing from the college’s board of trustees for a $16.8 million project, that doesn’t mean the money will be coming from the college or using taxpayers’ dollars.
Barton Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs said the responsibility of
raising the money falls on him to find private donors.
"The college is always going to support things because they understand the importance of programming and athletics," said Rolfs. "Especially on this Great Bend campus, it all relates to enrollment. One thing that has been good here is that we've had some people that have been very generous. I hope we can move forward with those private donors and see where things go."
1995 was the last time any structural additions were made to the main gym, when
the Kirkman Center Activity Center was constructed. At that time, there were
226 student athletes using the facilities. In 2022, there are close to 400
athletes that make use of the facilities.
With any growing organization over
time, Rolfs feels it is time to look for more space and upgrades.
"So when you go from 226 to 400...if you had three children with a two-bedroom house, and then you had six children...it would be pretty easy to understand how you would need to look into your housing," said Rolfs. "How is that positively or negatively affecting your family? We have functioned fine. We've gotten along as good as we can, but we're bursting at the seams."
Along with repurposing and renovating existing buildings, the plan calls for a
major addition to the south of the main gym that would include a training and
fitness facility, wrestling room, cheer and dance space, eSports facility, Hall
of Fame room, trophy cases, locker rooms, offices and storage space.